Editing Helena, Alabama (section)

===Reconstruction===
Within a few years of the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the [[reconstruction era]], industrialists were again developing the area coal and iron ore resources. The railroads were rebuilt and coke ovens were established by the Eureka Company in 1870. The rolling mill was rebuilt in 1873, with support spurred by [[Rufus Cobb]], later elected as a two-term governor.<ref>Robert David Ward, "Rufus W. Cobb, 1878-1882" in ''Alabama Governors,'' edited by Samuel L. Webb and Margaret E. Armbrester (The University of Alabama Press, 2001), pp. 106-109.</ref> Much of what was Hillsboro had been absorbed by the expanding Helena area. The town was surveyed by [[Joseph Squire]] in 1873 and incorporated in 1877.

By 1880, Helena contained
<blockquote>six mercantile stores, one drugstore, two hotels, and several boarding houses… The rolling mill had been expanded and modernized and the number of merchants had increased.<ref>Ken Penhale and Martin Everse, ''Images of America: Helena Alabama'' (Arcadia Publishing, 1998), 7-8.</ref></blockquote>A rail yard was added by the [[Louisville & Nashville Railroad]] Company.