The Woods County High School, one of only two in Oklahoma Territory at that time, was constructed in 1903 and opened in 1904 with 400 students. On January 6, 1904, the Arkansas Valley and Western Railway (part of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway system) reached Helena. Growing fast, by mid-1905 it was estimated that 700 residents supported two banks, two schools, two newspapers, four grain elevators, a flour mill, and two lumberyards. By 1909, there were Baptist, Christian, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches. The 1910 census showed 760 residents, a number which had increased to 776 by 1940.