The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Helmer was a town that started and grew because of the railroad it is located on. Helmer no longer has a post office nor a fire department as it merged with the Salem Center Fire Department.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Be one of the first
Start Helmer’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Helmer’s history is told.
0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people close to Helmer
See all 16 →
By decade
Helmer, decade by decade
Before
2000
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your albumNational Register of Historic Places
Nothing in Helmer is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Helmer has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Wiltrout, Maria and Franklin, Polygonal Barn in Fairfield, 4.5 miles away.
Helmer and the nearest listed places
Dashed line = Helmer. Tap a dot.
Closest to Helmer
Wiltrout, Maria and Franklin, Polygonal BarnFairfield · Building4.5miSouth Milford I.O.O.F. HallMilford · Building5.2mi
Iddings-Gilbert-Leader-Anderson BlockKendallville · Building7.8mi
Kendallville Downtown Historic DistrictKendallville · Italianate7.9mi
Pleasant Lake DepotSteuben · Late Victorian8.4miHow a place gets listed
1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Wiltrout, Maria and Franklin, Polygonal Barn’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Helmer?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Helmer’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old placeNational Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons
Then & now
When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.