St. Helena Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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Village · Cedar County · Population 91 (2020 census) · ZIP 68774 · Founded 1858 · Peak population 200 (1880)

About St. Helena

St. Helena is a village of 91 on a bluff above the Missouri River in northern Cedar County, at the end of Spur S-14H about 5 miles north of NE 12 and 14 miles north of Hartington. Immaculate Conception Church, the Saint Helena Social Club Dancehall and a river access with free camping are here.

History

Carl C. P. Meyer chose and named the site in 1858, and the first log houses went up in 1859; P. C. Nissen sold the first goods in Cedar County here. St. Helena was a steamboat landing, and the county seat moved here from St. James (by an act of 1865, confirmed by election in 1869) and stayed until Hartington won it in 1885. In the early 1880s the town had three general stores, two hotels, the Cedar County Nonpareil newspaper and about 250 people.

The Catholic parish was organized in 1864. The present Gothic Revival Immaculate Conception Church was built in 1896–97 to the design of Josef Schwartz, and the church and its 1919 rectory are on the National Register of Historic Places. Floods later moved the Missouri away from the town. The village holds a Fourth of July celebration every year, with tournaments, a chicken dinner and fireworks; 2022 was its 86th.

Highways and trails through St. Helena

Route	One way	Other way
Spur S-14HPaved spur, 5.4 mi, from St. Helena to NE 12	Ends in St. Helena	South to NE 12, 1 mi east of NE 57

Nearby towns

Bow Valley	about 8 mi south	Spur S-14H and county roads
Menominee	about 9–10 mi west	County roads
Wynot	about 10 mi southeast	Spur S-14H and NE 12
Yankton, South Dakota	about 11 mi by gravel, 23 mi paved	County roads and US 81
Hartington	about 14 mi south	Spur S-14H, NE 12 and NE 57

Things to see

Immaculate Conception Church, 102–108 E. 9th St. (National Register) · St. Helena river access, 89878 563rd Ave. (paved ramp, free primitive camping; gravel roads) · Saint Helena Social Club Dancehall

Health care

No clinic; Avera Medical Group Hartington (about 14 mi); nearest hospital Avera Sacred Heart, Yankton, S.D.

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; NEGenWeb Cedar County post offices; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); National Register of Historic Places; Nebraska Department of Transportation route mileposts. Distances marked "about" are estimates.