Malden — originally called Kanawha Salines — is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Kanawha County,

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, 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, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 66,263 people. History Malden is a hilly woodland area no ...

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. 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 Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Notable people

Notable people from Malden include General Lewis Ruffner and his wife Viola Ruffner, and Booker T. Washington, president of

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU; formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute) is a Private university, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It was f ...

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