Malad City is a city located in Oneida County, Idaho, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 2,158. The city is the county seat of Oneida County. It was named after the nearby Malad River, the name being French for "sickly". Malad City is located along Interstate 15 on the east side of the Malad Valley thirteen miles from the Utah/Idaho border.
Malad's motto is "Where Idaho Begins."
Malad City is located at 42°11'27" North, 112°14'57" West (42.190887, -112.249214).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.3 km2 (1.7 mi2). 4.3 km2 (1.7 mi2) of it is land and none of it is covered by water. It lies on the eastern edge of Malad Valley at 4,540 feet (1384 m) in elevation.
The Wasatch fault runs along the east side of Malad Valley, and there are several active faults in the area to the south and west.
Timezone: MST (GMT -7), Observes Daylight Saving Time.
USDA plant hardiness zone: 5
ZIP Code: 83252
Area Code: 208
As of the census of 2000, there are 2,158 people, 797 households, and 561 families residing in the city. The population density is 498.9/km2 (1,294.6/mi2). There are 908 housing units at an average density of 209.9/km2 (544.7/mi2). The racial makeup of the city is 98.01% White, 0.14% African American, 0.37% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 0.56% from other races, and 0.60% from two or more races. 1.85% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 797 households out of which 34.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.5% are married couples living together, 6.3% have a female householder with no husband present, and 29.5% are non-families. 27.9% of all households are made up of individuals and 16.8% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.65 and the average family size is 3.24.
In the city the population is spread out with 29.9% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 22.6% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 20.4% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 38 years. For every 100 females there are 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 92.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $32,235, and the median income for a family is $38,068. Males have a median income of $29,125 versus $19,338 for females. The per capita income for the city is $13,926. 10.0% of the population and 6.2% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 9.7% of those under the age of 18 and 13.8% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Malad City ancestries: English (28.6%), Welsh (23.1%), Danish (10.1%), United States (8.7%), German (7.8%), Irish (6.0%).
Races in Malad City: White Non-Hispanic (96.8%), Hispanic (1.9%), Two or more races (0.6%), Other race (0.6%), American Indian (0.5%).
Established in 1864, Malad is one of the oldest communities in the state of Idaho. The community received its name from Donald Mackenzie, a French-Canadian trapper, who passed through the valley between 1818 and 1821 with a party of trappers. Some of his men became sick while camped here and, believing that the illness was caused by drinking water from the valley's principal stream, he named it "Malade" meaning sick or bad in the French language. Actually, the water had nothing to do with the men's illness, as it was later learned by the second party led by Jim Bridger between 1832 and 1835. The men had eaten some beaver that were nibbling on the poisonous roots of a certain tree that put a natural arsenic into their flesh. The beaver were immune to the poison because of long-term adaptation, but the trappers suffered from their feast.
Malad began largely as a Welsh Mormon settlement whose settlers brought their Welsh traditions with them. Some of the minutes from early town meetings were taken down in both English and Welsh. The city is very proud of its Welsh heritage. Malad lays claim to having more people of Welsh descent per capita than anywhere outside of Wales. Malad celebrated its Welsh heritage by holding an annual eisteddfod, patterned after the music and poetry contests held in Wales for over 900 years. The eisteddfod was an all-day event with people coming from all over southeastern Idaho. The event featured music, songs and storytelling of Wales. The custom continued until 1916 and the outbreak of World War I. With the goal of renewing the old eisteddfod tradition in Malad, in 2004, the annual Malad Welsh Festival was established.
In the summer of 1843 John C. Fremont and his party of 39 men passed the spot where Malad City now stands.
Mormon prophet Brigham Young came through the Malad Valley in 1855. In 1856, at his request, Utahan members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints migrated to the region. This party of 15 families led by Ezra Barnard traveled to the Malad Valley and established a community by the name of Fort Stuart. The following year in 1857, Fort Stuart was renamed Malad City. A post office was later set up in 1865.
By 1886 Malad City was the fastest growing village in eastern Idaho.The city was an important commercial center between Salt Lake and Butte, Montana. In 1906, the railroad reached Malad City, allowing travel to Salt Lake City in only a four hour ride by rail. The population of the city would double over the next 15 years as a result. Malad City experienced a flood when the earthen Deep Creek Dam, northeast of the city, broke June 19, 1910.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake shook the Pocatello Valley near the Idaho-Utah border March 27, 1975. The epicenter was only 15 miles southwest of Malad City which was hit hardest by the quake. Nearly 2/3 of its homes and businesses had some sort of damage.
Malad City received national news coverage when a corporate jet carrying eight people including four Coca-Cola executives crashed January 15, 1996 killing all onboard. The large twin-engine turbo-prop was flying from Salt Lake City, Utah to Pocatello, Idaho for a Coca- Cola sales meeting. The Mitsubishi MU-2 aircraft crashed and burned at the base of a canyon 8 miles northwest of Malad. According to the National Transportation Safety Board in its published SEA96MA043 Accident Report, the cause of the accident was listed as ice on the wings.
Towards the end 2003, a nationwide influenza outbreak occurred. Malad was likely the hardest hit community in the nation. So many people became ill during the first part of December, 2003 that the city was virtually shut down. The entire school district in Malad was closed for three days in an effort to keep students from spreading the ailment. Roughly a third of the students became ill. Church services and Christmas festivities were also cancelled.
Malad City has the oldest department store in the state of Idaho. Evans Co-op opened in 1865 and is still in business today. Malad City also has the longest running weekly newspaper in Idaho, called "The Idaho Enterprise" which published its first issue on June 6, 1879.
Malad is today home to many successful businesses and industries. These include Horse Races,Hess Pumice Products, Hess Lumber, Jones' Confectionery, Ireland Bank, and Thomas Electric.
Source:
MaladCity.com
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