page_title: Malden, Pennsylvania
hierarchical_section_title: Malden, Pennsylvania
caption_attribution_description: English: Malden Inn This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States of America. Its reference number is 74001805 More images
context_page_description: The unincorporated hamlet of Malden is a bedroom community along the historic 'Old National Pike' within borough of Centerville Washington County, Pennsylvania. Malden was a historical wagon stop amidst farms during the early 19th century surge of westward migration to settle the Northwest Territory after 1790.
  Today, as it has since the US-40 roadbed was flipped northerly to miss the road through West Brownsville, the hamlet sits in the apex of a westward pointing triangle formed by the intersection of the newer early 1960s four lane Highway improvement of U.S. Route 40 and the consequent by-pass of that stretch of old historic National Highway. Thus both US-40 bridges across the Monongahela River, the Lane Bane Bridge and the Brownsville-West Brownsville Bridge connect their respective US-40 routes, merging just to the west side of the Malden commercial strip. Old US 40 turns left, travels past the lower Brownsville business district and several congestion causing traffic lights before turning right to cross the older Brownsville Bridge, zig through the southern part of West Brownsville and climb to Malden's east side.
context_section_description: The unincorporated hamlet of Malden is a bedroom community along the historic  'Old National Pike' (1811) within borough of Centerville Washington County, Pennsylvania.  Malden was a historical wagon stop amidst farms during the early 19th century surge of westward migration to settle the Northwest Territory after 1790. 
  Today, as it has since the US-40 roadbed was flipped northerly to miss the road through West Brownsville, the hamlet sits in the apex of a westward pointing triangle formed by the intersection of the newer early 1960s four lane Highway improvement of U.S. Route 40 and the consequent by-pass of that stretch of old historic National Highway.  Thus both US-40 bridges across the Monongahela River, the Lane Bane Bridge and the Brownsville-West Brownsville Bridge connect their respective (Old/New) US-40 routes, merging just to the west side of the Malden commercial strip. Old US 40 turns left, travels past the lower Brownsville business district and several congestion causing traffic lights before turning right to cross the older Brownsville Bridge, zig through the southern part of West Brownsville and climb to Malden's east side.
  Both Malden and the widespread rural Borough of Centerville, its technical parent community, share the 15417 postal zip code of the Brownsville, PA post-office across the Monongahela in Fayette County, now existing real estate momentum keeps them each alive, shrinking.  Just another one of several satellite communities built to support workers of area coal mines and Brownsville's once vibrant boat building, outfitting, and rust belt industries.
  Settled initially about 1780-1800 as the surge of emigration westward across the Alleghenies was becoming first a steady stream, then a post-war deluge as the Northwest Territory was organized by the new (first) US Congress.  The area's relatively level geography atop the long climb along Nemacolin's Path and the National Road lent itself to emigrant's resting their draft animal teams and making camp, overnight or possibly to recuperate from the arduous mountain trek and the ascent from the traffic jams, congestion and general hustle & bustle of land limited Brownsville and West Brownsville.  Brownsville rapidly developed into a river boat building and outfitting center and the entire four county region spawned support industries from small foundries smelting local iron ores and producing iron goods and boat hardware, to glass and pottery kilns, charcoal and fire wood, lumberjacks and sawyers. 
  Accordingly, with a steady stream of people pushing westwards, one of the first structures erected was the Malden Inn, which also sat along the road junction with Malden Road, connecting the plateau with California, PA and other developing communities along the left bank Monongahela River.  The Inn is located at one side of the small business district and today houses a more modern cultural landmark, Paci's Restaurant, which has served the tri-county area with fine dining and receptions since the 1930s. Within another block, opposite Malden road lies another local multi-county landmark, Cuppies Drive-In Theatre which began operations in 1947 and was sold by the family in 1976 and renamed the Malden Drive-In Theater.
  Since the 1970s decline in the rust belt industries, like the whole region, the neighborhood has become a relative backwater, but the commercial decline of Malden began in the early 1960s — despite the community being centrally convenient, desirable as a satellite & upscale housing community to several larger Mon-Valley towns — because the re-routed US-40 traffic now bypassed its small collection of commercial enterprises
  This improvement project locally rerouted the path of US-40 away from the main street (Market Street) through the region's former gateway town, Brownsville – away from the Old National Road and the former path of U.S. Route 40. Including a two-mile lead-in stretch of Market Street in upper Brownsville – about three miles of US-40 in eastern Washington County, Pennsylvania, was rerouted across the Lane Bane Bridge to bypass 
caption: Malden Inn in the borough's Centerville historic district in August 2014
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