A hilly city of squares north of the Mystic River, once the Mistick Side of Charlestown, where a meetinghouse bell hung on a ledge called Bell Rock, Michael Wigglesworth wrote The Day of Doom, and Elisha Converse's rubber works helped turn a farm town into a city.

Middlesex County · Record checked October 12, 2026

66,263Population2020 census1
1649Became a townas Mauldon, set off from Charlestown1
1,800A best sellercopies of The Day of Doom sold in a year2
3,030People in 1840before Melrose and Everett split off3
14National Registerplaces, all still standing4

Malden on the map

Click the map to look closer.

Map of Malden, Massachusetts in 2026, with Fellsmere Pond, Belmont Hill and Boojum Rock

2026

Malden today

By KNOWOL

Pleasant Street, Eastern Avenue, Broadway, Temple Street, the Fellsway and the Bennett Highway across the city, with Fellsmere Pond, Fells Reservoir, Towners Pond, Belmont Hill, Black Rock and Boojum Rock, drawn from USGS elevation data and Census Bureau streets.5

See the 2026 printMore about this map

The story of Malden

The bell on the rock

Malden's first meetinghouse stood on the slope of Bailey's Hill, close to a rocky ledge. In November 1658 the selectmen hired Job Lane to build a new one, thirty-three feet square. The contract called for a turret to hang the bell in, but it was never built, so the bell went up in a frame on the ledge, and the ledge has been Bell Rock ever since. No record kept the names of the first bellmen. The first the town wrote down was Thomas Dunnell, chosen in 1690 to ring the bell and sweep the meetinghouse for one pound fifteen shillings a year. Soon after, the town voted to hang the bell on top of the meetinghouse at last. Today the rock is the heart of Bell Rock Memorial Park, laid out by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.6789

Malden's Faithful One

Michael Wigglesworth came to Malden from Cambridge in 1656, a young minister in poor health who stayed nearly fifty years. He also wrote The Day of Doom, a long poem on the Last Judgment. Malden's historian Deloraine Corey called it dismal, and it was a sensation: the first printing of eighteen hundred copies sold within a year, about one copy for every thirty-fifth person in New England. Wigglesworth preached on the Sunday before a fever took him, and he died on June 10, 1705, in his seventy-fourth year. Two weeks later Cotton Mather preached his memorial sermon in the little meetinghouse beside Bell Rock and remembered him as Malden's Faithful One. He's buried in the old burying ground at Sandy Bank, close by.1021112

One town, three cities

When Elisha S. Converse came to Malden in 1847, the town still had Barrett's dye-house and Cox's last factory, where Samuel Cox had started out in 1812 whittling shoe lasts by hand and carrying them to Boston on his back. The Boston and Maine Railroad had opened in 1845, Otis Tufts had just built the first wharf at the old landing place, and the government was straightening the crooked Malden River. Converse opened his rubber works at Edgeworth in 1853 and became the city's first mayor in 1881. At Malden's 250th birthday in 1899 he pointed out that the little town of 3,030 people in 1840 had become three growing cities, Malden, Melrose and Everett, with about 70,000 people between them.3135

Through the years

25 moments from 1640 to today.

  1. 1640Puritans settle Mistick Side, part of Charlestown, on land bought in 1629 from the Mystic people.1
  2. 1649Malden is incorporated as a town under the name Mauldon.1
  3. 1649The burying ground at Sandy Bank, the oldest cemetery in the city, is established.12
  4. 1656Michael Wigglesworth comes from Cambridge to be Malden's minister.10
  5. 1658The selectmen hire Job Lane to build a meetinghouse thirty-three feet square.6
  6. About 1660The meetinghouse bell is hung in a frame on the ledge nearby, and the ledge becomes Bell Rock.7
  7. 1662Wigglesworth's The Day of Doom appears; its first 1,800 copies sell within a year.2
  8. 1689Town meeting bans cutting young trees under a foot thick for firewood.14
  9. 1690Thomas Dunnell becomes the first bellman on record, for one pound fifteen shillings a year.8
  10. 1705Wigglesworth dies, and Cotton Mather preaches his memorial sermon beside Bell Rock.11
  11. 1712Malden builds its first recorded schoolhouse, twenty feet by sixteen.14
  12. 1747Timothy Dexter, later known as Lord Timothy, is born.14
  13. 1770Malden boycotts tea to protest the Revenue Act.1
  14. 1787The Malden bridge is built, a shorter way to Boston than the old road around through Cambridge and Roxbury.14
  15. 1788Adoniram Judson, later a missionary in Burma, is born in Malden.5
  16. 1812Samuel Cox begins whittling shoe lasts by hand, the start of Cox's last factory.13
  17. 1833John B. Faulkner buys the Faulkner farm for $3,600.15
  18. 1845The Boston and Maine Railroad opens, bringing new people and money to town.3
  19. 1847Joshua Webster buys 200 acres and plants the maples that name Maplewood.1
  20. 1850North Malden becomes Melrose; South Malden follows as Everett in 1870.1
  21. 1853Elisha S. Converse opens his rubber works at Edgeworth.3
  22. 1881Malden becomes a city, with Converse as its first mayor.5
  23. 1885The Converse Memorial Building opens as the public library.16
  24. 1895The state's gypsy moth campaign builds an experiment station and insectary in Malden.17
  25. 1899For the 250th anniversary, about two thousand schoolchildren gather in the Anniversary Building.18

Places to see

Places worth a visit in Malden today.

  • Malden SquareMain and Pleasant Streets. The downtown crossroads of the city.
  • BellrockSouth-central Malden. Named for the old meetinghouse bell.
  • Converse Memorial BuildingSalem Street. Richardson's library, opened in 1885.Visit their website
  • Fellsmere PondFellsmere Park. 25 acres, with sledding on Seven Bumps.
  • Middlesex Fells ReservationNorthwest edge. Cliffs rising along the northwest edge.Visit their website
  • Boojum RockMiddlesex Fells Reservation. Highest point in Malden, about 275 feet.
  • MaplewoodMaplewood Square. Named for Joshua Webster's maples.
  • FaulknerBetween Malden Centre and Maplewood. Station named for Deacon John B. Faulkner.
  • EdgeworthSouthwest corner. Original home of the All-Star sneaker.
  • Belmont HillBetween Bellrock and Ferryway. A hill on the city's south side.

On the National Register

All 14 places in Malden on the National Register of Historic Places that still stand today, oldest first, and why each one matters.4

  • Waitt Brick Block

    Built 1848 · Listed 1982 · 422 to 424 Main St.

    Built in 1848, it's the oldest brick building in the city. One corner curves to follow the old junction of Main and Pleasant Streets, and the Register spells the Waite name as Waitt.19

  • Browne-Masonic Building

    Built 1894 · Listed 2022 · 126-150 Pleasant St.

    Built in 1894, it is a good example of Classical Revival architecture, designed by the prominent Boston firm Hartwell & Richardson. The building from its inception served as a home for a variety of fraternal organizations, notably housing local Masonic organization for much of the 20th century.20

  • Marcia Browne Junior High School

    Built 1905 · Listed 2000 · 295 Broadway

    A brick Colonial Revival school of 1905 by Boston architect Edward I. Wilson, expanded in 1925. Built as the Broadway School, it was renamed in 1913 for a well-liked principal.21

  • Charles A. Daniels School

    Built 1907 · Listed 1987 · Daniels St.

    The Tudor Revival style brick building was constructed in 1907 to a design by Warren Hutchins. The building has a large central block that is three stories high, with a gabled roof, and flanking flat-roofed wings of two stories that project from the main facade.22

  • Odd Fellows Building

    Built 1907 · Listed 1988 · 442 Main St.

    The four story steel and masonry building was built in 1907 to a design by Louis C. Newhall for the local chapter of the International Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF). The building is faced in buff brick, and is predominantly Renaissance Revival in character.23

  • St. Paul's Parish Church

    Built 1913 · Listed 2001 · 26 Washington St.

    A granite Gothic Revival church of 1913 designed by Ralph Adams Cram, with stained glass from the studio of Wilbur Herbert Burnham. The parish's earlier church of 1871 now serves as its parish house.24

  • Common Burying Ground at Sandy Bank

    Listed 1981 · Green St.

    Malden's oldest cemetery, in use since 1649, where Alice Brackenbury's gravestone of 1670 is the oldest dated stone. Michael Wigglesworth, the minister who wrote The Day of Doom, is buried here.12

  • Converse Memorial Building

    National Historic Landmark

    Built 1885 · Listed 1985 · 36 Salem St.

    Henry Hobson Richardson's last library design, built from 1883 to 1885 in brown Longmeadow sandstone as a gift of Elisha S. and Mary Converse in memory of their son Frank. It housed the Malden Public Library until 1996 and is a National Historic Landmark.16

    Visit their website

  • Wilbur Fiske Haven House

    Built in the 1860s · Listed 1992 · 339 Pleasant St.

    Built in the 1860s, this Second Empire house is a remnant survivor of a series of fashionable mid-19th century Victorian houses, known as "Doctor's Row". The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.25

  • Bell Rock Memorial Park

    Listed 2001 · Bounded by Main, Wigglesworth, Meridan, and Ellis Sts.

    A bell hung in a frame on this ledge called Malden to the meetinghouse beside it, and gave the rock its name. Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. designed the park from 1908 to 1917 around Bela Pratt's Civil War statue, The Flag Defenders, and a tablet here honors Michael Wigglesworth.9

  • Fells Connector Parkways, Metropolitan System of Greater Boston

    Listed 2003 · Fellsway East: E. Border Rd. to Fellsway W.; Fellsway West: Fulton St. to Fellway E.; Fellsway:Fellsway E. to the Wellington Bridge

    Charles Eliot planned the Fellsway and its two branches in the 1890s as some of the first connecting parkways of the Metropolitan Park System, linking the Mystic River to the Middlesex Fells. Fellsway East leads to Bear's Den Hill in Malden.26

  • Fellsmere Park Parkways, Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston

    Listed 2003 · W. Border Rd, Boundary Rd.

    Frederick Law Olmsted designed Fellsmere Park, built from 1893 to 1899 on land given by Malden's first mayor, Elisha S. Converse. The Metropolitan Parks Commission laid out its boundary roads, West Border Road and Boundary Road, in 1913.27

  • Middlesex Fells Reservation Parkways

    Listed 2003 · E. Border Rd., Fellsway E., Fellsway W., Hillcrest Parkway, South St., Pond St., S. Border Rd., Ravine Rd., and Woodland Rd.

    The roads in and around the Middlesex Fells Reservation, created in 1894 as one of the oldest parks of the Metropolitan Park System. Following Charles Eliot's idea, the border roads mark the edge of the park and give its neighbors pleasant views.28

  • Malden City Infirmary

    Listed 2020 · 341 Forest St.

    Malden first cared for its poor on this land in 1772 and organized a poor farm here in 1780. The warden's house of 1870 and the infirmary of 1933 survive, now an assisted living home.29

In their words

“I feel all the loyalty to the good old town that a native can feel.”

Elisha S. Converse, Malden's first mayor, at the town's 250th anniversary, 18993

“From Cambridge, the Star made his Remove, till he comes to dispense his Sweet Influences, upon thee, O Maldon! And he was thy Faithful One, for about a Jubilee of years together.”

Cotton Mather on Michael Wigglesworth, quoted in The history of Malden, 189910

“Certainly the elder names would have been as dignified as those of Maplewood and Linden, or Oak Grove.”

Deloraine P. Corey, The history of Malden, 1899, on the lost names Scadan and Tyot30

Nearby towns

Sources

  1. Malden, Massachusetts, Wikipedia
  2. The history of Malden, Massachusetts, 1633-1785 (1899), on The Day of Doom, Internet Archive
  3. Memorial of the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Malden (1900), Elisha S. Converse's address, Internet Archive
  4. National Register of Historic Places listings in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Wikipedia
  5. Map of Malden, Massachusetts in 2026, KNOWOL (USGS elevation, Census Bureau roads)
  6. The register of the Malden Historical Society (1916), on Job Lane and the Bell Rock church, Internet Archive
  7. The history of Malden, Massachusetts, 1633-1785 (1899), on how Bell Rock got its name, Internet Archive
  8. The history of Malden, Massachusetts, 1633-1785 (1899), on the town bellman, Internet Archive
  9. Bell Rock Memorial Park, Wikipedia
  10. The history of Malden, Massachusetts, 1633-1785 (1899), on Michael Wigglesworth's coming to Malden, Internet Archive
  11. The history of Malden, Massachusetts, 1633-1785 (1899), on Wigglesworth's death and burial, Internet Archive
  12. Common Burying Ground at Sandy Bank, Wikipedia
  13. Historic homes and places and genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts (1908), on the Cox last factory, Internet Archive
  14. Gazetteer of the state of Massachusetts (1874), on early Malden, Internet Archive
  15. The register of the Malden Historical Society (1910), Deloraine P. Corey's A walk up Salem Street, Internet Archive
  16. Converse Memorial Building, Wikipedia
  17. The gypsy moth: a report of the work of destroying the insect in the commonwealth of Massachusetts (1896), on the Malden insectary, Internet Archive
  18. Memorial of the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Malden (1900), on the school exercises, Internet Archive
  19. Waitt Brick Block, Wikipedia
  20. Browne-Masonic Building, Wikipedia
  21. Marcia Browne Junior High School, Wikipedia
  22. Charles A. Daniels School, Wikipedia
  23. Odd Fellows Building, Wikipedia
  24. St. Paul's Parish Church, Wikipedia
  25. Wilbur Fiske Haven House, Wikipedia
  26. Fells Connector Parkways, Metropolitan System of Greater Boston, Wikipedia
  27. Fellsmere Park Parkways, Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston, Wikipedia
  28. Middlesex Fells Reservation Parkways, Wikipedia
  29. Malden City Infirmary, Wikipedia
  30. The history of Malden, Massachusetts, 1633-1785 (1899), on Scadan and the old place names, Internet Archive