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History · Malin

Malin’s post office opened in 1910, and 41% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1957 on, and the census since 1920.

1910first post office
0on the National Register
41%homes built before 1940
9old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Malin’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Malin began

When was Malin founded?

1910

The Malin post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1922.

First census: 110 in 19202020 census: 731116 years
Founding year: the first Malin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1922.The full story ↓

What stands out about Malin’s past

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

Old housesHalf of Malin’s homes were built before 1949.
★ What stands out · The story

How Malin came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Malin.

Read it all →

According to Lewis A. McArthur, Malin was settled September 30, 1909, on land that was formerly at the bottom of Tule Lake by 65 Bohemian families who named the new town for the Czech town Malín, now part of Kutná Hora. The settlers had found a large horseradish, and Malin is famous for that plant. McArthur also alludes to the discovery of fossils near Malin in 1925. Many surviving descendants of these original Czech families still call Malin home and maintain family farms.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Malin, 1910 to 1957

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1910Post officeThe Malin post office opens
  3. 1939In the archiveSquatter camp before season opens. Malin, Klamath County, Oregon. General caption number …
  4. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Malin, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s9 items
Squatter camp before season opens. Malin, Klamath County, Oregon. General caption number 641939Squatter camp before season opens. Malin, Klamath Cou…Squatters camp in potato town. Malin, Klamath County, Oregon. General caption number 641939Squatters camp in potato town. Malin, Klamath County,…Squatter camp entering potato town. Malin, Klamath County, Oregon. General caption number 641939Squatter camp entering potato town. Malin, Klamath Co…Squatter camp entering potato town. Malin, Klamath County, Oregon. General caption number 641939Squatter camp entering potato town. Malin, Klamath Co…Squatter camp in potato town. Malin, Klamath County, Oregon. General caption number 641939Squatter camp in potato town. Malin, Klamath County, …One of the forty potato camps in open field, entering town. Malin, Klamath County, Oregon. General caption number 641939One of the forty potato camps in open field, entering…One of the forty potato camps in open field, entering town. Malin, Klamath County, Oregon. General caption number 641939One of the forty potato camps in open field, entering…Untitled photo, possibly related to: One of the forty potato camps in open field, entering town. Malin, Klamath County,…1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: One of the forty…Untitled photo, possibly related to: One of the forty potato camps in open field, entering town. Malin, Klamath County,…1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: One of the forty…
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today3 recent
Malin City sign2011Malin City signMalin - DPLA - f094b894b1272c19c9bb67e94e1c09ae2009Malin - DPLA - f094b894b1272c19c9bb67e94e1c09aeORMap-doton-Malin2004ORMap-doton-Malin
On the map

Malin on the map, 1957 to 1988

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

Malin on the 1957 USGS mapMalin on the 1988 USGS map1957Malin sheet · 1:62,500

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

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Squatter camp before season opens. Malin, Klamath County, Oregon. General caption number 64
Retake this viewSquatter camp before season opens. Malin, Klamath County, Oregon. General caption number 64, 1939

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Malin’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Malin, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 805

Between 110 and 805 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Malin

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

See all →
Carl BarksAmerican cartoonist · b. 1901
B
Brenda BakkeAmerican actress · b. 1963
Ralph HillAmerican runner; athletics competitor · b. 1908
Don Pedro ColleyAmerican actor · b. 1938
Sharron AngleFormer member of the Nevada Assembly from 1999 … · b. 1949
Charles O. PorterAmerican politician, member of the United State… · b. 1919
Help out

Finish Malin’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSquatter camp before season opens. Mali…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Malin’s history

What year was Malin founded?

The Malin post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1922.

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 (3), the Library of Congress (9), 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.