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History · Malta

Malta’s post office opened in 1883, and 55% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1968 on and the census since 1970.

1883first post office
0on the National Register
55%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Malta began

When was Malta founded?

1883

The Malta post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 196 in 19702020 census: 167143 years
Founding year: the first Malta post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Malta’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Malta are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Malta’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Malta’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Malta’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Malta came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Malta.

Read it all →

The settlers in the Malta area in the early 1880s had no central location for mail delivery. The mail was delivered in open boxes. The Condit family secured a permit from the U.S. Post Office Department to open a post office and name the community. The post office was opened in 1883. Apparently it seemed like an island in a wide expanse of sea, so they named it Malta after the island of Malta in the Mediterranean.

A website, created as an Eagle Scout project, includes a history on the majority of the people buried at the Valley Vu Cemetery in Malta. It also has histories and information from Raft River High School, including yearbooks.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Malta, decade by decade

Today1 recent
IDMap-doton-Malta2004IDMap-doton-Malta
On the map

Malta on the map, 1968 to 1993

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Malta. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Malta on the 1968 USGS mapMalta on the 1993 USGS map1968Malta sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Malta.

People over time

Malta, census by census

0100200198020002020Peak: 196

Between 167 and 196 people in every census since 1970.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Malta’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Malta

Nobody well known was born in Malta itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Gary PeacockAmerican jazz double-bassist · b. 1935
Mike SimpsonAmerican politician · b. 1950
Boyd CoddingtonAmerican hot rod designer · b. 1944
R
Ronald A. NussbaumAmerican herpetologist · b. 1942
W
William Norman GriggAmerican writer · b. 1963
C
Cheryl ParisActress · b. 1959
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Malta’s post office has been open since 1883.

Gone or out of use
Malta Airportairport

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Malta’s history

What year was Malta founded?

The Malta post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.