MALDEN -- The city of Malden recently celebrated a milestone birthday complete with a party, cake and shared memories.
Over 50 residents gathered at the Malden Historical Museum on Saturday to celebrate 140 years of the city's history.
"We deemed the party very successful," Malden Historical Museum President David Black said. "We hope to have a celebration every year for Malden's founding."
The celebration was hosted by Malden Historical Museum board members Mitch Green, Charles Dierks, Randy Burrow, Kathy Burrow, Sue Bostic, Black and museum receptionist Ibby Haskins.
"Through memberships we are able to keep the memories of Malden alive for future generations," Black said.
He went on to say the milestone birthday is a celebration of a city which played an integral part in the development of Southeast Missouri. This included the railroad industry, Little River Drainage District as well as a very important role in training pilots during World War II on the Malden Army Airfield.
During the birthday celebration, Black read an article from the April 7, 1955 edition of the Malden Press-Merit announcing the establishment of the Malden Historical Museum and items in search of to be on display.
"Lets give Malden the best historical museum in this part of the country," the conclusion of the article read.
Founded by Mary Kochtitzky, the museum was originally located on Madison Street behind the former Malden Public Library.
In 1980, Floyd and Vera Brown donated their home at 201 N. Beckwith Street to house the museum.
It opened in 1983 and is still home to the Malden Historical Museum 35 years later, preserving the past of the city for the future.
In addition to items displayed inside the museum, the public can now view copies of Malden's newspapers online from 1901-1998 at www.maldenmuseum.com.
"We want it to be public for everyone," Black said of the online presence.
Through fundraising efforts of over $10,000, the Allen Black Newspaper Archives now allows visitors to explore the history of Malden online through PDF files of past newspaper editions.
Many years ago, Black's father, Allen Black, publisher, editor and one of the owners of the Malden Press-Merit, spent years collecting editions of all Malden's newspapers.
After years of collecting past editions of the papers, Black shipped the issues in chronological order to the University of Missouri to be bound and microfilmed.
"We are very excited to still be thriving after 140 years," Mayor Denton Kooyman said.
The city's power company kept progression in the town moving forward, Kooyman said, even in the midst of a devastating tornado just two months ago.
During the April 16 city council meeting, the board celebrated Malden's birthday with cake and Kooyman thanked officials for their service to the city.
"I'm proud of the hard working city council who works well together and is doing great things," he said.