Known variously over the years as Kanawha Salines, Saltborough, Terra Salis, the Salines, and, after 1885, as Malden, this small community began as an informal settlement stretching along the turnpike. It was given more formal focus in 1831 when a salt manufacturer platted lots for sale. By 1870 only one of the salt furnaces, the Dickinson works, remained in operation. It continued, on a much-reduced scale, until 1950, when a fire destroyed the plant. Malden's decline was ensured when, in 1946, U.S. 60 was rerouted to bypass the town. Today it exists in Charleston's shadow, a far cry from its heyday as a vibrant manufacturing center. Malden is also known for its association with noted black educator Booker T. Washington, who lived here after the Civil War, before moving to Alabama in 1881 to found Tuskeegee Institute.
Writing Credits
If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.
SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.