Malden, Massachusetts
Malden is a suburban city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 56,340 at the 2000 census. In 2009 Malden was ranked the 'Best Place to Raise Your Kids' in Massachusetts by Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine.
History
Malden, a hilly woodland area north of the Mystic River, was settled by Puritans in 1640 on land purchased in 1629 from the Pawtucket Indians. The area was originally called 'Mistick Side' and was a part of Charlestown. It was incorporated as a separate town in 1649. The name Malden was selected by Joseph Hills, an early settler and landholder, and was named after Maldon, England. Malden, which originally included what are now the adjacent cities of Melrose (until 1850) and Everett (until 1870), was incorporated as a city in 1882.The first code of enacted laws printed in New England was compiled here by Joseph Hills in 1648.[citation needed] At the time of the American Revolution, the population was about 1000, and the citizens were involved early in resisting the oppression of Britain; they stopped using tea in 1770 to protest the Revenue Act of 1766, and Malden also has the reputation of being the first town to petition the colonial government to withdraw from the British Empire.Malden High School, in conjunction with Medford High School, has the second-oldest continuous high school football rivalry in the United States, with the first 'Thanksgiving Day Game' dating back to 1889.Malden is the site of the controversial Fells Acres child abuse case.Malden contains a number of historic churches and was the birthplace of several well known musicians and actors. Massachusetts was the first state in the USA to issue same-sex marriage licenses. The first marriage of a same-sex couple occurred in Malden, MA at 9:15 AM on May 17, 2004.
Geography
Malden is located at 42°25.5′N 71°4′W / 42.425°N 71.067°W / 42.425; -71.067Coordinates: 42°25.5′N 71°4′W / 42.425°N 71.067°W / 42.425; -71.067. It is bordered by Melrose on the north, Everett on the south, Medford on the west, Revere on the east, and Saugus on the northeast.According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.1 square miles (13.2 km²), of which 5.1 square miles (13.1 km²) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) (0.78%) is water. Bordered on the north by the cliffs of Middlesex Fells, Malden is drained by the Malden River.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 56,340 people, 23,009 households, and 13,575 families residing in the city. The population density was 11,102.9 people per square mile (4,290.5/km²). There were 23,634 housing units at an average density of 4,657.5/sq mi (1,799.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 72.09% White, 8.15% African American, 0.14% Native American, 13.99% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 2.10% from other races, and 3.46% from two or more races. 4.79% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.There were 23,009 households out of which 25.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.8% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.0% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.13.In the city the population was spread out with 19.9% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 36.9% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 92.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.0 males.The median income for a household in the city was $45,654, and the median income for a family was $55,557. Males had a median income of $37,741 versus $31,157 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,004. About 6.6% of families and 9.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.6% of those under age 18 and 10.2% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Malden has five public elementary/middle schools; one charter elementary, middle, and high school; one public high school; one Catholic high school; and one public preschool. The website for the public schools is:www.malden.mec.edu. The elementary schools in Malden were replaced in the late 1990s with five new facilities: Linden School, Beebe School, Forestdale School, Salemwood School, Mystic Valley Regional Charter School, and Ferryway School. The old (but newest of the old schools) Chester W. Holmes School, built c. 1962 to replace Faulkner School, which burned down, was remodeled around the time the other schools were rebuilt and is now the Early Learning Center. Malden is also home to Malden High School, Mystic Valley Regional Charter School (MVRCS), and Malden Catholic High School.
Neighborhoods
Like many communities in New England, many towns and neighborhoods are organized around 'Squares' which are locations of crossroads and town commons dating from the colonial and early 19th century years. Many of the neighborhoods in Malden take their name and identity from the Square they are centered around.Malden's squares include Malden Square (formerly Converse Square, and the location of Downtown Malden), Oak Grove Square (at Oak Grove T Station), Bellrock Square (at the intersections of Cross, Main and Medford Sts.), Judson Square (near Ferryway School), former Suffolk Square (at Cross and Bryant Streets, and the location of a thriving Jewish community, Maplewood Square (at Lebanon, Maplewood and Salem Streets) and Linden Square.Some of the neighborhoods in Malden include Faulkner (location of the former Suffolk Square) West End, Edgeworth, Linden, Ferryway, Forestdale, Maplewood, Bellrock, and Belmont Hill (located between Bellrock and Ferryway).
Faulkner
The Faulkner neighborhood is generally bounded by Ferry St on the west, the City of Everett on the South, at Dell St on the east and Salem Street on the north. A few of the streets north of Salem Street around Pierce St are sometimes considered part of Faulkner. In colonial times, Harvell's Mill was located here (at the intersection of Cross Street and the old B&M Railroad tracks, between Eastern Ave and Salem Streets), just below the cliffs, on Harvell's Brook, which drained west to the Malden River. A road from South Malden (now Everett) crossed here to meet Salem Street just uphill. Formerly called Harvell's Brook Lane, it was re-named Cross Street. In the 19th century a railroad was built along Harvell's Brook, named the Saugus Branch, and the brook was channeled to become a sewage ditch called the Saugus Branch Brook. During this time industry sprouted in this area, and a large immigrant neighborhood focused around Bryant and Cross Streets took shape named Suffolk Square. In the early 20th century Saugus Branch Brook was culverted due to pollution. In the 1920s and 30s Jewish immigrants from East Boston and Chelsea, as well as the West and North Ends of Boston, began to migrate to Suffolk Square. During this time Faulkner was served by three trolley lines and two commuter rail stations by what is now the MBTA. All that remains is the Route 105 T bus line. In the 1950s out-migration by the Jewish community to northern suburbs and the decline of railroads and mill-based industry led to a condition of dilapidated and shabby housing of triple deckers and empty storefronts. Ambitious but experimental urban renewal modeled on Boston's Scolley Square and West End projects leveled Suffolk Square and most of the neighborhood. Controversy around redevelopment projects led to the loss of the commercial center at Suffolk Square and the replacement of dense 3-family houses with suburban-like low-income and senior public housing. Housing projects include Suffolk Manor Senior Housing, Bowdoin Apartments and Newland Street Projects. The neighborhood was once served by Lincoln Elementary, Lincoln Jr High/ Middle School and Daniels Elementary as well at as the former Faulkner school at Peirce and Salem Streets. At the beginning of the 21st century a small section of Harvell's Brook was daylighted and partially restored at Roosevelt Park during the construction of the Salemwood School on the east end of the park. Parks in this neighborhood include Daniels Park, Lincoln Commons, Roosevelt Park and Harvard St. Park.
West End
The West End neighborhood is the northwest section of the city. It contains the Fellsmere Pond and Amerige Park. The Beebe School is located in the West End neighborhood. The Fells Acre incident occurred here..
Edgeworth
The Edgeworth neighborhood is the southwest section of the city. It contains Devir Park, Pearl St. Park, and Callahan Park. The city’s football stadium, MacDonald Stadium is in Edgeworth. A school in Edgeworth is the former Emerson grammar school.
Ferryway
Ferryway is the south central section of the city. It contains the Ferryway School and Newman Park. The land where the school is now used to be called Ferryway green.
Forestdale
Forestdale is the north central section of the city and it contains the Forestdale School and park. It also has the largest park in Malden, Pine Banks Park, and the largest cemetery, Forest Dale Cemetery. Parts of Forest street follow an old Indian path.
Linden
Linden is the southeast section of the city, generally everything east of Broadway/Route 99. It contains the Linden School and Hunting Field, and a moderately sized mountainous area topped with an apartment complex called Granada Highlands. A large portion of this neighborhood was once a marshy area up until the late 19th century. The Linden Land Company sold off house lots on land that was created by filling in the marsh around the Hunting Field area. People are known to still dig up old glass bottles and other items on their property on occasion. Hunting field was once a park that encompassed the entire area inside of Broadway, Salem St., Eastern Ave., and Claremont Street, save for a few homes and a large trolley car barn that was located where Econo Lodge is today. The park at one point had public gardens and a fountain. Over time the land was obliterated by construction of a gated and private housing project for war veterans in the late 40s and the Linden elementary school in 1953. The veterans housing has since been converted to low-income housing. One of the last remaining vestiges of this park is 'the No-Name street', which was the old entrance. One of the original park's large oak trees still stands here on the corner of Claremont St., as well as some stone walls.
Maplewood
Maplewood is located approximately one mile east of Malden Square. By car one can take either Salem Street, which will bring one right into Maplewood Square, or Route 60. Most of Maplewood lies within Malden’s Ward Six and it consists of three neighborhoods: South Broadway, Maplewood Highlands, which is a hilly area to the northeast and Maplewood lowlands, which is the most populous of the neighborhoods which includes the heart of the neighborhood Maplewood Square. One can take a bus from Maplewood (numerous bus options) to the Orange line and be in Boston in 30 minutes or take the bus to route one and the Square one Mall and be there in fifteen minutes. The T station is 1.3 miles from the Square and it is five miles from downtown Boston and one mile from Route One and two miles from Route 93. Maplewood Square has one gas station (Superior Gas), two convenience stores, Citizens Bank, Drug Store, Barber Shop, Fish Market, Meat Market, Three Pizza take-outs, optometrist, dentist, Accountant, Dunkin Donuts, Tailor/Cleaner, Ballroom Dancing Studio, Hair and Nail Salons, barber shop, Insurance Agencies, Two Kids' Dance Studios, Breakfast Restaurant, Patrick’s Pub, Ristorante Serena’s and two Chinese restaurants, one take-out the other sit-down. There is a Stop and Shop within a stone's throw of Maplewood Square, and a Planet Fitness. Maplewood has a Catholic church, Baptist church, Methodist church, Lutheran church and a Jewish temple. It is anchored by the Mystic Valley Regional Charter School, one of the best schools in the state,[citation needed] and was recently ranked as one of the top 10 public high schools in the country by Newsweek magazine. Malden Catholic is situated at the end of Maplewood Street and is also considered an outstanding academic institution.[citation needed]Housing in Maplewood ranges from modern one-family homes in new developments to many one-hundred-plus-year-old homes that have been updated over the years. There are many apartments available in one and two-family homes as well as in some newer apartment complexes like the Cliffside Apartments on Broadway. There are three public parks in the neighborhood, Roosevelt, South Broadway and Trafton Park. Trafton Park has recently been renovated and has a brand new tot lot, tennis courts and an off-leash dog run. The future Northern Strand Bike trail will travel through Maplewood on its route to the Sea.
Bellrock
Bellrock is the southwest section of the city, bordered by Main Street on the east, Charles Street on the north, the Malden River on the west, and the Everett line on the south. It contains Bell Rock Memorial Park (listed on the National Register of Historic Places) and Bell Rock Cemetery, which contains marked graves dating back to 1670. Bell Rock Cemetery was called Sandy Bank until the establishment of the Salem Street Cemetery in 1832; it was then known as the Old Burial Ground for half a century until it was renamed in 1882.
Fire Department
The City of Malden is protected 24/7 by the professional fire fighters of the Malden Fire Department. The Department operates out of three city-wide firehouses and one firehouse shared with the Revere, Massachusetts Fire Department. The Department operates an apparatus fleet of 3 engines(with 2 reserve engines), two trucks, two command cars, one fire prevention unit, one fire alarm unit, and one mechanics unit.
Fire Station locations
Fire Headquarters-Fire Station # 1-80 Salem StreetLadder 1 Engine 1 Car 1 Car 2 Fire Prevention Unit Fire Alarm UnitFire Station # 2-4 Laurel StreetEngine 2 Engine(Reserve)Fire Station # 3-332 Pleasant StreetLadder 3 Engine 3Fire Station # 4-Shared with Revere Fire and Rescue Department-5 Overlook Ridge Drive Engine 4(CLOSED)
Major highways
Route 28, Route 60, Route 99, and U.S. 1 run through Malden. Route 16 and Interstate 93 are a short distance outside the city's borders.
Rail
The city is served by the Orange Line subway that connects it to downtown Boston. The city's subway stops are Malden Center and Oak Grove. The MBTA's commuter rail also has one stop in the city (Malden Center) and can stop at Oak Grove if necessary. During the last few years, the MBTA updated signal systems and Orange Line Service had been unavailable at nights, but since September 2007 this is only a rare occasion on week-ends. At those times, signal system repairs closed off the northern portion of the Orange Line while the MBTA staff redirected commuters to use replacement bus service from either Haymarket or later from Wellington Station. There is also a sizable section of the old Boston and Maine 'Saugus Branch' railroad line running across the middle of the city. This line is currently owned by the MBTA and is out of use since the late 1990s, but not abandoned. There have been plans to create a bike trail (Bike to the Sea) along side the track on the right-of-way but the progress has been hampered by lack of funds as well as illegal land encroachers putting up fences across the railroad line.
Bus
Bus service to all adjacent communities is also available via the service of the MBTA.
Air
Boston's Logan International Airport is easily accessible from Malden.
Arts
Malden is home to a vibrant and rapidly expanding artist community.
Malden Arts
Malden Arts is a grassroots organization serving as an umbrella for diverse arts-related initiatives in Malden. Malden Arts promotes the arts in Malden, builds community among artists who live or work in Malden, and supports the revitalization of Malden and strengthening of community bonds through the arts. Malden Arts was founded in 2006 by local artists. Malden Arts first project was Window Arts Malden, which turns the windows of local businesses into galleries for local artists to display their work.
Points of interest
Converse Memorial Library
Congregation Beth Israel
Recreation
Approximately 30 park sites throughout the city provide a variety of recreational facilities including tennis courts, basketball courts, playgrounds and ballfields. Other sites include a 400-meter synthetic running track at Macdonald Stadium; 56 acres (23 ha) of the Middlesex Fells Reservation; the 25 acre (10 ha) Fellsmere Pond; a DCR-owned and operated swimming pool; a 30,000 square feet (2,800 m²) fieldhouse built under the new school rebuilding plan; the state-of-the-art Malden YMCA finished construction in early 2007; and Pine Banks Park, operated by a Board of Trustees with equal representation by the cities of Malden and Melrose.
Notable residents
Johnny A., American recording/touring musician, Gibson Guitar 'Signature' Artist, Solo, Peter Wolf, Bobby Whitlock, Mingo Lewis
Jack Albertson, (born Jonathen George 'Jack' Albertson, 1907), Academy Award, Emmy Award and Tony Award-winning American actor, comedian, dancer, singer, musician
Ed Ames, (born Edmund Dantes Urick, 1927), American singer, actor
The Ames Brothers,singers
Walter Brennan, (b. 1894), Academy Award winning American actor[citation needed]
Augustus C. Carey, inventor, representative of theKnow Nothing Movementat theGeneral Court of Massachusetts
George R. Carey, (b. 1851), civil engineer, surveyor, American inventor of an early system of television (1877)[citation needed]
Gary Cherone, (b.1961), American recording artist, rock vocalist forExtremeandVan Halen
'Lord' Timothy Dexter, American businessman
Gary DiSarcina,Major League Baseballplayer, born in Malden.
Charlie Farren, American recording artist, song writer, rock vocalist for The Joe Perry Project, FarrenHeit, Farren Butcher Inc.
Erle Stanley Gardner, lawyer, author of thePerry Masonmysteries
Breno Giacomini, Professional football player (Green Bay Packers)
Harold Gomberg, principal oboist of theNew York Philharmonicfrom 1943 through 1977
Norman Greenbaum, (b. 1942),singer/songwriter
Willis Hunt, seniorfederal judgefor theNorthern District of Georgia
Adoniram Judson, American Baptist missionary in Burma
Toni Kelner, mystery writer
Keith Knight, cartoonist, hip hop artist
Wladek Kowalski, a.k.a. 'Killer Kowalski', (1926–2008), retiredCanadianprofessional wrestler, trainedTriple H,Chyna, andKenny Dykstra, and owned and operatedKiller Kowalski's Pro Wrestling Schoolin Malden, which survived his death in August 2008 and still operates.
Ellis F. Lawrence, architect
Fred A. Leuchter, American execution technician featured in Errol Morris's documentaryMr. Death
David S. Liederman, State Legislator and National Advocate for Children
Barbara Margolis(1929–2009),prisoners' rightsadvocate who served as the official greeter ofNew York City.
Ed Markey, a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1976, representing the 7th District of Massachusetts.
Kevin McGlinchy, professional baseball player, Atlanta Braves, 1999–2000
Edmund Noble, (1853–1937), author, journalist fromBoston Herald, editor of Free Russia (1892–1894)
Patrick O'Hearn, Film and video editor, animator
Elliot Paul, author, journalist
Lawrence Palmer, ice hockey player, born in Malden
Mike Road, actor
Richard Rodenheiser, 1956 and 1960 USA Olympic hockey team silver and gold medalist
Steven Cuartas Cano, Graphic Designer and Audio Engineer, commonly known to many as 'Kraze'
Dana Rosenblatt, professional boxer
Dan Ross,NFLplayer for theCincinnati Bengals,Seattle Seahawks, and theGreen Bay Packers
Aafia SiddiquiNeuroscientist (allegedAl-Qaedaoperative), convicted of assaulting with a deadly weapon and attempting to kill U.S. soldiers and FBI agents
Peter L. Slavin, President of Massachusetts Hospital, was (reportedly) reared in Malden.
Frank Stella, painter and printmaker
Freeman Tilden, reporter and author,National Park Service'Father of Interpretation'
John Volpe,Governor of Massachusetts, U.S. Ambassador to Italy
Michael Wigglesworth, Puritan minister, author
Cesar R. Garcia(1990) creator of 'Captain Cowboy' and the 'Big Hoss' series.
Literary and film references
Life in early 20th century Malden is the subject of the memoirLinden on the Saugus Branchby writerElliot Paul. The name Linden refers to the eastern-most section of Malden that bordersRevere. Linden was formerly served by the Saugus Branch of theB&M Railroadthat ran fromEverettto WestLynnvia Malden andSaugus. While train service was terminated in the 1950s, and freight ceased to travel the line by the late 90s, the tracks remain in place.
In contemporary literature, Malden became a setpiece forStephen King's zombie thrillerCell(novel). King has referenced Malden several times over the years in his various works, as he has (or had) relatives who lived in the city.
Malden's Suffolk Square is the setting for the 2003 novelSin of OmissionbyDavid Evans Katz(link: www.sinofomission.com). In the novel, Malden is thinly disguised as 'Middlesex'.
Parts ofToni Kelner's 2008 mystery novelWithout Mercyare set in Malden. The book's protagonist lives in an apartment near Malden Center, and describes local businesses Pearl Street Station and Town Pizza House.
A memorable gun purchase scene near the beginning of the 1973 filmThe Friends of Eddie CoylestarringRobert Mitchumwas shot in the quarry and around the stone crusher of the former Rowe Quarry on the eastern border of the city. A still of this scene is printed on the recently released Criterion Collection DVD of this movie, used as cover art.
Parts of the movieMonument Ave.starringDenis Learywere filmed in Malden.
