Helena is sited on lowlands between the Mississippi River and the eastern side of Crowley's Ridge.

West Helena is located on the western side of Crowley's Ridge, a geographic anomaly in the typically flat Arkansas Delta.

[4] The municipality traces its historical roots to the founding of the port town of Helena on the Mississippi River by European Americans in 1833.

As the county seat, Helena was the center of a prosperous cotton plantation region in the antebellum years.

Later in the year, Helena served as the launching point for the Union Army in the capture of Little Rock, the state capital.

[5] Among the attractions in Helena–West Helena are the Delta Cultural Center, the Pillow-Thompson House (owned and operated by the Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas), and the Helena Confederate Cemetery, which holds the remains of seven Confederate Army generals.

The area comprising modern downtown Helena, next to the Mississippi River, was originally part of a land speculation deal between Sylvanus Phillips (the county's namesake) and St. Louis businessman William Russell in around 1815.

The land was formally platted by New York surveyor Nicholas Rightor in 1820, and by 1833, the city of Helena was founded.

[7][8] Like other river towns in the Arkansas Delta (such at Hopefield, Osceola, and Napoleon) Helena became known as a place that attracted thieves, gamblers, and other outlaws who inhabited frontier America.

In 1834, British geologist George William Featherstonhaugh was appointed by the War Department to make a geological survey of the state of Arkansas.

Before the trip, while stopping in Bolivar, TN, Featherstonhaugh was warned against going to Helena, it being described by the locals as "a sink of crime and infamy.

"[9] In 1835, citizens in Helena responded to the growing lawlessness by forming an anti-gambling and temperance societies to improve the town's image, one of the more notable leaders of this movement was local lawyer (and future Confederate General) Thomas Hindman.

By then, Helena had three newspapers, six private schools, at least a dozen churches, several subscription libraries, and an occasional public lecture.

The Phillips County Historical Quarterly states about the event: Suddenly the boat's three boilers let go with such force, more than half of her upper structure was torn to splinters.

Captain Robert McConnell of Paducah, who was clerk on her, was blown into the river, but being uninjured, managed to get to the shore.

Although many passengers and members of the crew were injured or killed by the explosion and fire, the few who leaped overboard were drowned.

In the early morning hours of July 4, 1863, Confederate forces attempted to retake Helena in order to help relieve pressure on the strategic river town of Vicksburg, Mississippi.

[12] In the early part of the 20th century several business leaders began developing property west of Crowley's Ridge.

The land survey was completed on March 28, 1910; from its beginning, West Helena was deliberately segregated, with separate housing areas for white and black residents.

Proponents of the consolidation said that combining the cities would strengthen their bargaining power for the surrounding region in competing for projects to improve the overall economy and standard of living.

The King Biscuit Blues Festival was organized in the late 20th century as an annual October event.

Based on U.S. Census reports for both cities prior to the merger, the 2000 population of the area comprising Helena–West Helena was 15,012.

One potential advance for the combined city, as reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on July 12, 2006,[20] is an ethanol fuel refinery to be built by Las Vegas-based E-Fuels.

If the project is developed, it is expected to bring several new jobs and a significant increase in traffic to the region's port on the Mississippi River.

Barge traffic at the city's port on the Mississippi River is another source of jobs and revenues, in addition to retail and tourism.