Helper, Utah - With the arrival of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (D&RGW) in 1881–82, Helper began to develop as a population center. In 1892, Helper was designated the division point between the eastern and western D&RGW terminals in Grand Junction, Colorado, and Ogden, Utah
We were fortunate to get our second vaccine shot scheduled through the Southeast Health Dept in Price, Utah. They had a very organized crew of people doing them at the the Fairground Event Center and it went really smooth. We weren't sure how we would feel, for the 48 hours after the shot, so we needed a good place to park and crash. After looking online I found Castlegate RV Park (Helper is about 10 min outside of Price). It's newer (just celebrating their 2nd anniversary today) super clean, had wonderful speedy WiFi (which came in handy as we recuperated), a laundry room and everyone was really friendly. I even checked out the bathrooms (out of curiosity) and they were spotless and each had a shower! There was a wonderful picnic pavilion area near us with outside sinks and you could tell they were really taking care of everything. Our RV spot backed up to a river with picnic tables and benches scattered along the water. It was too early in Spring for the leaves but I can imagine once things green up this will be super pretty. For two days after our shot we mostly slept, but I spotted a blue heron and ducks the one afternoon I sat out here. The railroad runs nearby so you can periodically hear the whistle and see the trains which was fun.
"Helper has a colorful history as a railroad town in coal country. The town at one point had 13 bars and 10 brothels. The last brothel closed in the mid 1980’s. During the heyday of the town in the 1920’s 27 languages were spoken on Main Street and the diverse businesses of that time reflected the population." Castlegate RV
Our last day there, once we felt better, we decided to take a drive up to see the Price Recreation Area which sounded wonderful. Unfortunately, it was too early in the season and the road was closed. The drive up the canyon there was still super pretty and I imagine that area would be great for hiking since there are really interesting rock formations everywhere. Instead we headed to the downtown Helper and were pleasantly surprised by how cool it was! It's a few blocks of really historic architecture, fantastic old signage and lots of remodeling going on in empty spaces. You can tell they are working hard to create a really fun strollable downtown area. I got a yummy dirty Chai and cinnamon roll at Happiness Within Coffee Shop. Went inside a cute shop called Timeless Art (got a leather bracelet) and had fun wandering with my camera trying to capture some images. There's a number of great galleries, shops and fun things to wander in/out of.
"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. It was said that Butch Cassidy later came back to Helper for occasional visits."
According to the Castlegate RV website "Helper is still an active railroad town where helper engines hook on to coal trains to help them reach the mountain summit. That is where Helper got its name – from the helper engines. Approximately 10 trains come through town each day including Amtrak’s California Zephyr, Union Pacific, and BNSF. Helper is a stop for the California Zephyr which affords an opportunity for scenic day trips into Colorado."
We also spent an hour exploring the various floors of the Western Mining and Railroad Museum and saw all kinds of fascinating things including the steps Cassidy used to get the gold during the robbery. The basement was filled with interesting mining information and artifacts.
All in all this was just a great little town to discover and if you are in this area you should stop by! You can follow events on Castle Gate's FB page.
Sounds like a fun little town you stopped in :D
What a colorful array of old signs!! I wonder how many of those have been restored? They look like they're in really good condition. The advertisements painted on the sides of those buildings look way too crisp and bright to be original – I bet they were restored, too. I love that they're doing that!! How interesting that it was such a diverse hub a hundred years ago, and now it's this teeny tiny town. Time really is strange.