It is the location of the Western Mining and Railroad Museum, a tourist attraction that also contains household and commercial artifacts illustrating late 19th and early 20th-century living conditions.

[citation needed] With the arrival of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (D&RGW) in 1881–82, Helper began to develop as a population center.

The railroad planned to make Helper a freight terminal after the rail lines were changed from narrow to standard gauge.

In 1892, Helper designated the division point between the eastern and western D&RGW terminals in Grand Junction, Colorado, and Ogden, Utah, respectively, and a new depot, hotel, and other buildings were constructed.

[citation needed] On April 21, 1897, Butch Cassidy and Elzy Lay robbed the Pleasant Valley Coal Company in nearby Castle Gate; they stayed in Helper the day before.

The first amenities offered to the few settlers and numerous railroad workers included three saloons, one grocery store, and one clothing establishment.

[citation needed] After the unsuccessful coal miners' strike of 1903–04, Italians, blacklisted from the mines at nearby Castle Gate, ventured into Helper to establish businesses and farms along the Price River.

The influx of strikers into Helper accelerated its growth, with the newly established farms offering needed agricultural products.

Helper, along with Price, was fast becoming the center of the Carbon County coalfields, providing service functions to the outlying camps.

Specialty shops, cafes, coffeehouses, saloons, theaters, general mercantile, and various service-oriented businesses formed Helper's commercial district.

[citation needed] Ethnic identities, inter- and intra-group rivalries, new waves of immigration, and Helper's position as a neutral ground for labor influenced the town's social landscape.

Helper became known as the area "hub" because it was nestled among various mining camps, and it served as a city of refuge where strikers and union organizers, as well as national guardsmen, could congregate during tense times.

[citation needed] While the Great Depression hit the entire county, Helper's position as a railroad center provided some stability.

Coal production increased during World War II and continued strong through the 1960s, with significant periods of uncertainty and temporary decline.

These towns include Castle Gate, Coal City, Consumers, National, Peerless, Rains, Royal, and Standardville, as well as Mutual.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.8 square miles (4.7 km2), all land, along the Price River.