Helper Map
Helper is a city in Carbon County, Utah, United States about 120 miles southeast of Salt Lake City and 7 miles (11 km) northwest of the city of Price. It is also known as the "Hub of Carbon County". The population was 2,025 at the 2000 census.
The city lies along U.S. Route 6/U.S. Route 191, a shortcut between Provo and Interstate 70, on the way from Salt Lake City to Grand Junction, Colorado. 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.
Helper is situated at the mouth of Price Canyon, alongside the Price River, on the eastern side of the Wasatch Plateau in Central Utah. Trains traveling westward from the Price side to the Salt Lake City side of the plateau required additional "helper" engines in order to make the steep (2.4% grade) 15 mile climb up Price Canyon to the town of Soldier Summit. Helper was named after these helper engines, which the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad stationed in the city.
Nearby cities include Wellington, Price.