Commemoration of Malden’s 375th Anniversary

Happy 375th Anniversary to our City! Today is the anniversary of the date in the year 1649 when the territory known as “Mistick Side” became separated from the Charlestown Colony to become a distinct town. Upon agreement by the General Court the following entries upon the records of the colony recorded the incorporation of the town of Malden:

“Upon the petition of Mistick side men, they are granted to be a distinct town, and the name thereof to be called Mauldon.”

  “In answer to the petition of inhabitants of Mistick Side, their request is granted, to be a distinct town of Mauldon.”

  This record would have been read at the First Meeting House in Boston, which stood just behind where the Old State House is now (probably roughly the corner of Washington and Court Streets). It would have been a very simple wooden meeting house used both for the First Church services and for meetings of the General Court, until the Town House was built in the late 1650s (on the site of the Old State House).

Mayor Gary Christenson, alongside State Representatives Steve Ultrino and Paul Donato, came together to commemorate a historic moment for our city.