Malden — originally called Kanawha Salines — is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Kanawha County Kanawha County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 180,745, making it West Virginia's most populous county. The county seat is Charlest ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

, United States, within the Charleston metro area.

History

The Kanawha Saline(s) post office was established in 1814 and discontinued in 1879.Helbock, Richard W. (2004) ''United States Post Offices, Volume VI - The Mid-Atlantic'', p. 135, Scappoose, Oregon: La Posta Publications. The community changed its name to Malden, establishing Malden PO in 1879; it closed in 1961. This probably means that Malden became a Rural Branch of Charleston in 1961. The present name most likely is derived from

Malden, Massachusetts Malden is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 66,263 people. History Malden, a hilly woodland area north of the Mystic River, was settled by Puritans in 1640 on la ...

Arts and culture

Malden is the location of the Salines salt wells, and the Booker T. Washington Park, owned and maintained by the

West Virginia State University West Virginia State University (WVSU) is a public historically black, land-grant university in Institute, West Virginia. Founded in 1891 as the West Virginia Colored Institute, it is one of the original 19 land-grant colleges and universities ...

. The African Zion Baptist Church and Malden Historic District are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

Notable people

Notable people from Malden include General

Lewis Ruffner Lewis Ruffner (October 1, 1797 – November 19, 1883) was an American merchant, magistrate, slaveowner and politician who helped found the state of West Virginia. Originally a salt manufacturer in the Kanawha Salines (renamed Malden), Ruffn ...

and his wife

Viola Ruffner Viola Knapp Ruffner (1812–1903) was a teacher, schoolteacher and became the second wife of General Lewis Ruffner, a salt and coal mine owner and community leader in Kanawha County, West Virginia. She played a role in the personal developmen ...

, and

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...

, president of

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was de ...

and a national African-American leader in the early 20th century.

References

Unincorporated communities in Kanawha County, West Virginia Unincorporated communities in West Virginia Populated places on the Kanawha River {{KanawhaCountyWV-geo-stub