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Helena-West Helena is the county seat of and the largest city within Phillips County, Arkansas, United States.〔(【引用サイトリンク】accessdate=2011-06-07 )〕 The current city represents a consolidation, effective on January 1, 2006, of the two Arkansas cities of Helena and West Helena. West Helena is located on the western side of Crowley's Ridge, a geographic anomaly of the typically flat Arkansas Delta. Helena is nestled between the Mississippi River and the eastern side of Crowley's Ridge. The Helena Bridge, one of Arkansas' four Mississippi River bridges, carries U.S. Route 49 across to Mississippi. The combined population of the two cities was 15,012 at the 2000 census and at the 2010 census the official population was 12,282.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=United States Census Bureau )〕 The municipality traces its historical roots back to the founding of the port town of Helena in 1833 on the Mississippi River. Helena was occupied by the Union Army early in the American Civil War. The city of Helena was the site of the Battle of Helena fought in 1863. The battle was started by Confederate forces in an unsuccessful attempt to oust the Union Army from Helena in order to help relieve pressure on the strategic river town of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Helena later served as the launching point for the Union Army in the capture of Little Rock, the state capital, later in the year. The city grew into a thriving blues community in the 1940s and 1950s. The city continued to grow until the closing of Mohawk Rubber Company, a subsidiary of Yokohama Rubber Company, in the 1970s. Unemployment surged shortly after.〔Delta Dreams documentary airing on PBS Dec. 19, 2007〕 Helena-West Helena is home to the Delta Cultural Center, the Pillow-Thompson House (owned and operated by the Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas), the King Biscuit Blues Festival (renamed in 2010 on a 25th anniversary performance by B.B. King) held each October, and a Confederate Army Generals Graveyard, which holds the remains of seven Confederate Army generals.〔Helena-West Helena, AR Historical Marker at the intersection of US 49 and US49B〕 ==History== The city's roots trace back to the founding of the city of Helena in 1833, along a port on the Mississippi River. Crowleys Ridge provided elevation and some protection against flooding, a rare feature along the right/west bank of the lower Mississippi River. During the Civil War, the Union Army occupied Helena prior to the Battle of Helena in 1863. 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. However, Confederate forces in Vicksburg had already arranged to surrender to General U.S. Grant on the morning of July 4. Many of the old battle sites are still intact and several historians agree that Helena is in a unique position to develop and protect these historic areas. Prior to consolidation, Helena contained 6,323 people within 23.1 km². Neighboring West Helena had 8,689 people in 11.5 km². Merger proposals began as early as 2002, and a March 2005 vote among citizens of both cities approved the merger. The surrounding county is one of the poorest of Arkansas's 75 counties. Proponents of the consolidation stated that combining the cities would strengthen the bargaining power for its surrounding region in competing for projects to improve the overall economy and standard of living. Among the combined city's council's first tasks was the hiring of a new police chief, Vincent Bell. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Helena-West Helena, Arkansas」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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