The track changeover was completed in 1891, prompting the Salt Lake Tribune to announce that the "new town of Helper" was started in the spring of that year. In 1892 the town became the division point for the railroad; Helper was the union station of the eastern and western divisions, the terminals being Ogden and Grand Junction, Colorado. With this distinction came a new hotel, depot, and other buildings.

Helper's growth proceeded in a slow but deliberate fashion bearing little resemblance to booming metal-mining towns. The first amenities offered the few settlers and numerous railroad workers included three saloons, one grocery store, and one clothing establishment. A school was built in 1891. By 1895 the D&RGW buildings and shops at Helper were lighted by electricity, and two reservoirs for water had been constructed.

Ethnic diversity was destined to become a chief characteristic of Helper. Industrial expansion, coal mining, and railroading required a great amount of unskilled labor. In 1894 the railroad's passenger department established an immigration bureau to advertise Utah Territory. This move coincided with the influx of the numerous immigrants from southern and eastern Europe and from Asia.