Editing Helenwood, Tennessee (section)

==History==
Helenwood was platted in 1859 under the name "Homestead."<ref name=Miller2001/> It was settled as a [[coal-mining]] community. The origin of its current name is not known.<ref name=Miller2001>Larry L. Miller (2001), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=zOzPQYkkbaAC&pg=PA97 Tennessee place-names]'', [[Indiana University Press]]. Page 97.</ref>

On April 5, 1935, a [[dynamite]] explosion caused extensive damage in Helenwood, destroying fifteen homes and damaging many other homes and businesses.<ref name="Blast">[http://www.tngenweb.org/scott/Helenwood_Dynamite_Blast.htm Dynamite Blast Rips Helenwood To Bits], Scott County, Tennessee, [[GenWeb]] (accessed November 17, 2007)</ref><ref name="RedCross">[http://www.tngennet.org/scott/fnb_v3n3_red_cross_celebrates_75th.htm Local Chapter of Red Cross Celebrates 75th], Scott County, Tennessee, [[GenWeb]], FNB Chronicles (accessed November 17, 2007)</ref> One news account said that Helenwood was "literally wiped off the map."<ref name="Blast" /> There were no fatalities.<ref name="RedCross" />

Helenwood was [[municipal corporation|incorporated]] as a town by [[referendum]] in 1997, after the state statute that set minimum criteria for [[municipal incorporation]] was amended by the [[Tennessee General Assembly]] to remove the requirement that a newly incorporating area must not be within three miles of an existing city and to reduce the minimum population for incorporation from 1,500 residents to 225. The legislation that changed the statute had been introduced by [[Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee|Lieutenant Governor]] [[John S. Wilder]] in order to allow [[Hickory Withe, Tennessee|Hickory Withe]] to become a municipality. Helenwood's incorporation was rescinded by state courts after the amendments were declared unconstitutional.<ref>Associated Press, [http://www.oakridger.com/stories/012700/stt_0127000022.html High court refuses to hear "tiny towns" appeal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040109061337/http://www.oakridger.com/stories/012700/stt_0127000022.html |date=January 9, 2004 }}, ''The Oak Ridger'', January 27, 2000</ref>