Malden River facts for kids

The Malden River is a small river in Malden, Medford, and Everett, Massachusetts. It is about 2.3 miles (3.7 km) long. The river is quite wide in some places, about 675 feet (206 meters), but also very narrow in others. Many businesses are located along its banks, and the river is not used or talked about very much. Its water quality is not as good as other nearby waters, including the Mystic River, where it eventually flows.

Many people agree that the Malden River could be used more. New projects, like Rivers Edge, hope to encourage people to use the river's banks for fun activities. Right now, some school rowing teams, including Malden High School and Mystic Valley Regional Charter School, practice on the river. They like it because it is never as busy as the Charles River. Also, a modern boathouse is located on the border between Malden and Everett. The Tufts University rowing team uses this boathouse.

Where the Malden River Flows

The part of the Malden River that you can see starts behind Canal Street in Malden. Here, three underground canals feed water into it. The river then flows south for about 2 miles (3.2 km). It forms the border between Medford and Everett before it empties into the Mystic River.

Malden River Water Quality

The Malden River's water used to be a mix of fresh and salty water, and its levels changed with the ocean tides. This changed when the Amelia Earhart Dam was built in 1966. The dam turned the river into a freshwater river and keeps its depth mostly the same.

Dams and Locks on the River

The Amelia Earhart Dam is on the Mystic River, just below where the Malden River joins it. When it was built in 1966, this dam changed the Malden River from a salty, tidal river to a non-tidal freshwater river. The dam is a strong concrete structure with three openings that allow boats to pass through. Workers in a tower watch for boats and open the locks when needed. The dam also has a pump that can push freshwater downstream, even during high tide, to help prevent flooding. Sometimes, the river can even flow backward because of the dam's operations.

There are also smaller metal barriers, called locks, at the start of the first canal that goes underground. These locks are lowered by turning a knob. They stop water from flooding the underground streams in Malden. These locks are rarely closed. There is one set at the beginning of the canal and another at the end, just before the water goes underground.

Malden River Canals

Three canals come together to form the part of the Malden River that is above ground. All of them are located on Canal Street.

• The first canal is a long, straight path divided into two sections by a concrete wall. This is where the locks mentioned earlier are located.
• The second canal is a concrete half-circle with a bridge over it. It is surprisingly deep, about 230 feet (70 meters). This canal is a popular spot for alewife fish to lay their eggs, and Striped bass often follow them here.
• The third canal looks like the first one, but it is much shorter and does not have any locks. This canal is where the actual river continues underground.

Fish in the Malden River

Even though the Malden River's water quality isn't the best, many fish live there. The most common fish is the carp. There are many carp, and you can often see them resting near the surface. Carp are not originally from the Malden River; they were brought here in the 1800s. They have done very well and can now be found in most waters across the country. Some people think carp are not good fish, but they are actually great for sport fishing if you give them a chance. You can catch them in the Malden River using simple foods like corn or bread as bait, placed on the river bottom.

Other fish include the alewife and its relative, the blueback herring. These are often called river herring. Both types of fish travel from the ocean into the fresh water of the Malden River every spring to lay their eggs. Striped bass, a popular saltwater fish, also come from the ocean to lay eggs and to hunt the herring. Other fish, like bluegill, largemouth bass, and catfish, are less common in the river.

History of the Malden River

Native Americans and early settlers used the Malden River for fun and for business. In the past, alewife and blueback herring were caught in this river with nets and used for food. People also built ships along the Malden River.

The Malden River used to be a brackish river, meaning it had a mix of fresh and salty water, and its banks were lined with salt marshes. It was also once connected to Ell Pond and was fed by Spot Pond Brook, which connected to Spot Pond. This older part of the river was sometimes called Spot and Ell Pond Brook. It often flooded and had a few small ponds. Other small creeks also fed the river, but these have since been covered or replaced by drainage pipes.

Near the current post office, there is a park called Coytemore Lea. The river used to flow through this park. It was decorated with bridges, waterfalls, and flowers. The river has since been covered up, but the park is still there.

The Revere Beach Parkway crosses the river on a bridge built in 1954. This bridge, called the Woods Memorial Bridge, has not opened for boats in over 30 years.

Sports on the River

Rowing is a very popular sport on the Malden River. Currently, four teams use the river for practice and races. The first team to use the Malden River was Tufts University. They started in a simple tent, but in 2005, they moved into a modern boathouse further down the river. The rowing teams from Mystic Valley Regional Charter School and Malden High now use the original Tufts boathouse. Gentle Giant Rowing, whose boathouse is on the connected Mystic River, also practices on the Malden River. Their boathouse is also home to the Wentworth Institute of Technology team and a combined Somerville-Everett High School team.

You can also see motorboats and people fishing on the river. However, swimming is not common because the amount of bacteria in the water is often too high for safe swimming.

Images for kids

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  Coytemore Lea, a park where the river once flowed

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  Malden River north of Medford Street in 2017