Settlers began arriving in this area after being displaced by the 1812 New Madrid earthquake and the War of 1812. Helena was named for the daughter of Sylvannus Phillips, a land speculator who laid out the townsite in 1820. It became the county seat in 1830 and was incorporated in 1833, making it the second oldest incorporated city in Arkansas. (Little Rock was incorporated in 1831.) West Helena evolved as an industrial extension of the city of Helena, located 5 miles east. Founded in 1909, the city was built around factories and mills Helena had no room for. West Helena was incorporated in 1920. Helena and West Helena merged in December 2005.
