blackfoot-valley

One of the first questions one asks about the community is: What is its population? This is a difficult question to answer in any consistant way, especially for Helmville. The usual arbiter is the U.S. Bureau of the Census, but in 2000 Helmville did not qualify in the agency’s official criteria for defin- ing as a “place”. In the eyes of the census it is, shall we say, a “non-place,” its inhabitants lumped into an unidentifiable mishmash of Powell County resi- dents outside its identified “place.” The criteria for inclusion as places in the 2000 census includes all incorporated communities whatever their size, plus unincorporated Census Designated Places (CDPs) with 100 or more inhabit- ants, plus communities which specifically asked to be included. (As Ovando is listed as a CDP with an April 1, 2000 population of just 71, someone must have asked. Helmville might keep this in mind for the next decennial census.) To come up with a figure for such a place one must first define exactly what area is to be included, and even so, one is often reduced to using in- formed guesses. Both can vary widely. Of the residents that this writer inter- viewed in 1997 and 1998 who responded to the question, Sonny Geary gave Helmville’s population at 35, “not counting ranches.” Tom Geary said it was “about 70”, and Pat Geary noted that there were 87 registered voters (clearly not including children, but just as clearly including the people on nearby ranches). Peaches Raymond said that the population, “is now less than 100.” In a featured article on Helmville in the Missoulian on April 15, 2001, the writer noted that assistant postmaster Brab Hernly gave “more than 200” as the number of people who put Helmville on their envelopes, which would include those on the ranches which use the post office but not children too young to write or others who don’t correspond. She added that there are at least 38 residents she’s certain of on Main Street. 153