The view of downtown Helena from the Union Battery C site, part of the Battle of Helena Civil War battlefield.

Hard-luck Helena could use some good news, and some may be headed its way.

While the prospect of 20 to 50 jobs will always be welcomed with open arms by any mayor in his right mind, it's not exactly a major boon. But that's not necessarily the case in Phillips County, one of the more economically depressed areas of the nation. The prospect of even 20 new jobs has city officials optimistic they can begin to turn the tide of high unemployment that has many of its residents living the blues for which the town is so famous.

A shut-down chemical plant, if reopened, could bring up to 50 jobs to Helena. Mayor James Valley calls it a potential "home run" for his city. The new jobs for Helena aren't a done deal, perhaps not even close. The 48-acre site was abandoned in 2002 when Cedar Chemical went bankrupt and the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality took control of the area to determine the level of any possible contamination.

Several companies have expressed interest in opening a facility on the site and even absorbing part of the cost to rehabilitate it.

Helena, officially Helena-West Helena, is one of Arkansas' most fascinating cities, literally full of history. Made up of two formerly separate cities divided by the tail end of Crowley's Ridge -- Helena on the river and West Helena on the western slope of the ridge -- it is perhaps the de facto capital of the Arkansas Delta. Mississippi River port, Civil War battlefield, blues boomtown ("Little Chicago") of the '30s and '40s, it represents a regional snapshot of  high unemployment and declining population.

And it's home to the world-renowned Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival (formerly the King Biscuit Blues Festival), which attracts roughly 100,000 over four days each October.

In 2006, the cities of Helena and West Helena consolidated into one city. (As for the new official name, apparently West Helenites just couldn't let go.) Roughly 30 years ago the two cities had a combined population of more than 20,000. By the 2000 census, it was down to 15,000; the 2010 census is expected to reveal a head count of around 12,500.

City officials hope the new jobs created by the rehabilitation of the Cedar Chemical site will lead to an infusion of more jobs. After all, singing the blues should be strictly recreational.

Before we sign out, just for the heck of it ...

Some notable Helena natives include:

  • Blues legend Sonny Boy Williamson (among several others)
  • Former Hog football all-American and eventual coach Ken Hatfield
  • U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln
  • John Hanks Alexander, the second-ever black man to graduate from West Point
  • Patrick Cleburne, Confederate Civil War general