Helena

Helena was once one of the most vibrant and important cities in Arkansas, but now it feels neglected and forgotten. It was incorporated in 1833, along a spot where Crowley's Ridge met the Mississippi River. The town quickly became a vital spot along the River during the steamboat era. In 1883, Mark Twain wrote that "Helena occupies one of the prettiest situations on the Mississippi."

Several Civil War battles were fought in and around Helena. And in the 1930s, Helena became known as "the blues capital of the Delta," and was the home to such musical luminaries as Robert Johnson, Robert Lee McCollum, Roosevelt Sykes, and Sonny Boy Williamson. But modern economic realities of the Delta have been rough on the city.

I don't know why Helena feels so cut off from the rest of the state. Maybe it's because its location? It is on the Mississippi River, but far from any interstates or other big cities. Our state government often has to be reminded that the Delta exists, especially for places like Helena. The city has been under a boil order since the end of June due to issues with its aging water infrastructure. The state of Arkansas, which currently has a billion dollar surplus, offered the city a paltry $100,000 loan.

There are lots of neat old buildings in Helena, but many have been left empty and abandoned. And sadly, many of those were severely damaged by a storm in 2020. But the buildings that remain paint an interesting picture about what Helena was once like, and the history it still has to share.





One building here used to house Bullock's Cafe, which I was wish was still open because the food there must have been delicious. A friend I follow on Twitter (Terry Buckalew - @tmabuckalew - who you should definitely follow if you are interested in the Blues) reports that Bullock's had amazing food, and the owner Cora Bullock would pull you in the back and you could pick your food right off the stove. It was famous for awhile, and was in a few travel magazines and news stories.







There is a picture of Cora at work in the kitchen on this photoblog from 2007.



This old building sits a few blocks away, along the Mississippi River levee. It has been abandoned for some time now, with the gutted interior now covered in layers of graffiti and random debris. The outside is home to these invasive vines, looking to take over the concrete walkway.









This cracked and faded paint was on one of the rusty metal doors leading into the building.





A few blocks away is an old motel, the Downtown Inn. It has been closed for several years, with tall weeds sprouting in the former parking lot.









And a few more shots from around downtown Helena:











I drove over to the industrial area along the river that looks like its home to buildings that process grain (I guess, I really have no idea?). There is an old building here, that may have once been a factory. It sits empty and abandoned, the only inhabitants are mice (judging from the numerous pieces of poop on the ground).







In one part of the building, trees were seemingly growing right on the concrete floor. They were pretty tall, so it seems like they've been growing there for quite some time.





After that I needed to start driving back towards home. But I got one last shot at this neat old Victorian house. They definitely don't make them like this anymore:

Helena - Centennial Baptist Church

The Centennial Baptist Church, or what remains of it, was built in the historic city of Helena in 1905. The Gothic Revival church was the home base of Reverend Dr. Elias Camp Morris, who was the president of the National Baptist Convention. That group became the largest Black organization in the country, and the Rev. Dr. Morris became "one of the most influential persons in the history of African-American religion in the country" at the time. The church was designed by Henry James Price, and it is the only known example in Arkansas of a Black church designed by a Black architect.

The church was so significant that was deemed a National Historic Landmark. There are only 17 National Historic Landmarks in Arkansas, and the church is included with other places like Bathhouse Row, the Old State House and Little Rock Central High. This is a view of the church, taken during a visit to Helena in 2017:



The last church service was held in 1998, and the decades after saw the building suffer serious deterioration. It sat empty, with bricks falling from the facade and pigeons making nests among the pews. In 2020, a massive storm hit Helena. Straight-line winds hit the church, shaving off the front wall and ripping off the roof. This is a view of the church, taken during a visit to Helena a few weeks ago:





The church is surrounded by a high fence, so it was hard to get pictures. But I lifted the camera overhead and tried my best. Remarkably, several of the brick towers are still standing. They have been joined by a spreading congregation of vines, which cover parts of the ruins like a shroud.









There have been vague mentions in a few news articles about trying to preserve, or perhaps rebuild the church. Although the biggest question would be who would pay for it. Despite the state sitting on a massive billion dollar surplus, and pretending to care about heritage and history (at least when it comes to confederate statues), the Centennial Baptist Church seems to have been forgotten. I do hope that something can be done to save the church, it and the city of Helena deserve it.

Helena

From Elaine, I headed north through the flat Delta lands and made it to the city of Helena-West Helena. Helena is another city that bears the burden of the modern Delta. It is an old city, but a place that most people in Arkansas seem to have forgotten about. Helena has a deep history: It was an important city during the Civil War (but is overshadowed by Vicksburg downriver), and it was one of the places that helped birth the Blues (but is overshadowed by Mississippi, which soaks up most of the attention dedicated to musical heritage).

There are lots of historic buildings here. But like so many other places in the Delta, Helena-West Helena has struggled economically. There are unfortunately many old buildings in downtown Helena that are empty, abandoned and crumbling. These buildings are fragile, and many of them were severely damaged by a storm earlier this year. One of the victims, tragically, was the old Centennial Baptist Church.

The church was built in 1905 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Gothic Revival church had been a vital centerpiece to the African American culture of the city, and efforts had been made to renovate the church. It’s hard to imagine what could be savaged, but hopefully the old church can somehow be preserved. Here’s a view of the church from a few years ago...

From there I drove by through the old industrial section of the city, which is populated with some old factories and mills. Some of the buildings were abandoned, including this one sitting beneath a tower that stretched up like a skyscraper.

The road passed between these two buildings, which probably aren’t being used anymore.

Closer to downtown was the old Bullock’s Soul Food Cafe, which is unfortunately closed and the building is abandoned. I wish the restaurant was open because it probably had some amazingly good food.

Vines have covered most of the side of the building, which proclaims “Home Cooking Served Daily.”

And a picture of the same building from a few years ago. The older buildings across the street that were in the background of this picture have been torn down (one of those buildings used to house an old blues joint called The Kit Kat Club that Robert Johnson played at in the olden days. It’s a vacant lot now).

The city of Helena was laid out in 1820, at a spot where the low hills of Crowley’s Ridge met the Mississippi River. The city was formally incorporated in 1833, and would grow to become an important spot for steamboats on the river since it sits between Memphis and Vicksburg. In his book “Life on the Mississippi,” Mark Twain would describe Helena as being “one of the prettiest situations on the Mississippi.”

By 1860, Helena was the largest city in Arkansas along the Mississippi River. As a river town, Helena was known as a wild town with its fair share of crime, gambling, prostitution and violence. During the Civil War, US troops quickly captured the city in 1862 because of its strategic location along the Mississippi River. In 1863, Confederate troops tried to retake the city but suffered significant losses. The city remained in Union control for the rest of the War, and it became home to significant numbers of freed and escaped slaves.

In the early days of the city, most of the commercial district was along Water Street. But the street lived up to its name - in 1867 a major flood washed away most of the buildings. The waters of the Mississippi eroded the riverbank until Water Street was itself underwater. By 1880, the core of the city’s commercial district moved to Cherry Street.

Today, old buildings line Cherry Street for several blocks. One of the most prominent is the old Cleburne Hotel, which was built in 1905. The hotel is empty now, and the windows are boarded up. But if you look close, you can still see an old sign promoting the hotel’s services (which includes a European Plan and even a breakfast for just 25 cents).

And a wider shot of the front of the hotel. I would love to be able to go inside to take pictures.

And the side of the hotel, where it looks like there used to be a space for a variety club.

And the view looking down Cherry Street, where unfortunately a few of the older buildings were damaged in the storm a few months ago.

Between Cherry Street and the Mississippi River levee is this old building, which looks to have been abandoned for several years. Vines have shrouded much of the exterior of the building.

A few blocks away was this building, where it appears half of it is disused while the other half is used and open (for a quaint looking coffee-shop). The mix of the two kinda looks like a building version of Twoface from Batman.

Further down the road is the intersection of Cherry and Missouri Streets. It was a quiet afternoon when I was there, with little traffic cruising through the summer heat. But that was not the case a century ago, when a tragic incident occurred here. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History states: “On December 23, 1920, in what one newspaper called ‘One of the most dreadful tragedies that the Negroes of the City of Helena has [sic] ever been called on to witness,’ Professor J. W. Gibson was killed by a night watchman in Helena (Phillips County). Depending on how the word “lynching” is interpreted, this may have been an incident of police brutality, or Professor Gibson may in fact have been lynched.” For more on this, click HERE.

If you travel down Cherry Street you will soon reach the historic Phillips County Courthouse. The courthouse was built in 1915.

In the park across the street from the courthouse is a new memorial to the victims of the Elaine Massacre of 1919.

There are also signs in the park commemorating the seven Confederate Civil War generals who were from Helena. What is not commemorated was another piece of history - a lynching that occurred in this park. In 1921, the body of a man was taken from an ambulance and burned in this park. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas again has all the gruesome details HERE.

A few blocks away was this sign, still promoting a store that seems to have shut down long ago.

And a few last shots, before heading back home. I drove by this old restaurant, which was unfortunately closed. It made me really hungry for a burger.