BlockBefore

Helena, California

20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1909 and the latest in 1998. It stands in the Northwest Trinity census division. It lies in ZIP code area 96010. It stands on North Fork Trinity River. The Survey maps it on the Helena quadrangle. It stands 1,391 feet above sea level.

Helena within Trinity County

Then and now

1909 to 1998

The same ground, surveyed 89 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Helena, surveyed 1998
Topographic sheet of Helena, surveyed 1909

Compare 1909 against another survey:

On record in Helena

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 20 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

125 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 125 fires within 5 miles of Helena between 1992 and 2020, burning about 87,143 acres in total. 30 started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined31
Natural30
Recreation and ceremony17
Equipment and vehicle use17
Debris and open burning15
Power generation/transmission/distribution9
Misuse of fire by a minor4
Arson/incendiarism1
Other causes1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 1998Naturalunder an acreShasta-Trinity National ForestBIG II
9 September 1997Naturalunder an acreShasta-Trinity National ForestNORTH FORK
8 September 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresShasta-Trinity UnitJUNCTION
8 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.6 acresShasta-Trinity National ForestHELENA
5 September 2019Natural18 acresShasta-Trinity National ForestCUTTHROAT
4 September 2003Naturalunder an acreShasta-Trinity National ForestDIGGER
3 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresShasta-Trinity UnitDUTCH 3
28 September 1994Natural1.0 acresCentral California DistrictABC MISC

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Trinity County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 63 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 63 workings within 5 miles of Helena: 35 past producers, 13 unknowns, 10 occurrences, 3 producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Silver, Platinum, Copper. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Placer Dev. Co.Gold, Osmium, SilverPast Producer
Sourdough GroupGold, Platinum, SilverPast Producer
Valdor DredgeGold, Platinum, Iridium, OsmiumProducer1916
LorenzeCopperOccurrence
LorenzeCopperOccurrence
Junction CityGold, PlatinumProducerSTREAM PLACER
Old Eagle MinePlatinumOccurrence
ValdorGold, PlatinumUnknown
AntoniaGold, SilverPast Producer
Barthol - JacobsGold, SilverPast Producer

Every working recorded in Trinity County

Storms near this place

5 since 2022

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Helena in 5 storm reports between 2022 and 2025: 5 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
March 2024Heavy RainHelena$1,000Partial slide block the road about 2 miles east of Helena, CA.|LAT. 40.77N, LONG. -123.08W.
January 2025Heavy RainHelena-Rock slide reported in one lane of hwy 299, 2 miles east of Helena, CA. |Lat. 40.77N, Long. -123.09W.
March 2024Heavy RainHelena-A landslide blocking the westbount lane of the 299 2 miles east of Helena, CA. LAT. 40.77N, LONG. -123.09W.
January 2023Heavy RainHelena-Earth slide partially covering HWY 299.
December 2022Heavy RainHelena-Heavy rain caused a landslide across HWY 299 east of Helena.

Every storm recorded in Trinity County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Junction City4.8 miles21
Big Bar7.1 miles20
Dedrick7.8 miles20
Globe Mill9.4 miles21
Weaverville10.3 miles26
Del Loma10.8 miles20
Douglas City12.8 miles26
Trinity Alps13.9 miles26

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on HelenaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q5703481The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 261237. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.