In The Beginning...
THE FIRST MALLS IN THE FIFTY STATES:
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1. Normandale Shopping City, Montgomery (1957*) 2. The Mall/Mall At Sears, Anchorage (1968) 3. Park Central Shopping City, Phoenix (1957) 4. Park Plaza, Little Rock (1960) 5. Lakewood Center, Lakewood (1951) 6. Cherry Creek Center, Denver (1954) 7. Connecticut Post Center, Milford (1960) 8. Blue Hen Mall, Dover (1968) 9. Sunrise Center, Fort Lauderdale (1954) 10. Stewart-Lakewood Center, Atlanta (1959*) 11. Moanalua Center, Honolulu (1954) 12. Karcher Mall, Nampa (1965) 13. Park Forest Plaza, Park Forest (1949) 14. Eastgate Center, Marion County (1957) 15. Park Fair Center, Des Moines (1957) 16. Prairie Village Shops South Mall, Prairie Village (1956) 17. The Mall/Mall St. Matthews, St. Matthews (1962) 18. Lakeside Center, Jefferson Parish (1960) 19. Maine Shopping Center (Turnpike Mall), Augusta (1967) 20. Mondawmin Center, Baltimore City (1956) 21. Shoppers' World, Framingham (1951) 22. Northland Center, Oakland County (1954) 23. Southdale Center, Edina (1956) 24. Edgewater Plaza Shopping City, Biloxi (1963) 25. Antioch Center, Kansas City (1956) 26. West Park Plaza, Billings (1961) 27. The Center, Omaha (1955) 28. Charleston Plaza, Las Vegas (1963*) 29. Nashua Mall & Plaza, Nashua (1969) 30. Princeton Center, Mercer County (1954) 31. Winrock Center, Albuquerque (1961) 32. Cross County Center, Yonkers (1954) 33. Charlottetown Mall, Charlotte (1959) 34. Arrowhead Center, Minot (1962) 35. Westgate Center, Fairview Park (1954) 36. Penn Square, Oklahoma City (1960) 37. Lloyd Center, Portland (1960) 38. Levittown Shop-A-Rama, Bucks County (1953) 39. Midland Mall, Warwick (1967) 40. Richland Mall, Forest Acres (1961) 41. Super City Center, Aberdeen (1964) 42. The Village, Cleveland (1961) 43. Palms Center, Houston (1955) 44. Cottonwood Mall, Salt Lake County (1962) 45. Rutland Mall, Town of Rutland (1974) 46. Seven Corners Center, Fairfax County (1956) 47. Northgate Center, King County (1950) 48. Middletown Mall, Marion County (1971) 49. Valley Fair Center, Winnebago County (1954) 50. White Mountain Mall, Rock Springs (1978)
* Became a mall after an addition to an existing strip-type complex.
THE FIRST REGIONAL-CLASS ENCLOSED MALLS IN THE UNITED STATES:
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Establishing exactly "who came first" enclosed mall-wise is quite a challenge. I've seen shopping centers built as late as the 1970s cited as being "one of the first enclosed malls in the USA." Say what? As far as I can determine, this map and list indicates the ten earliest fully-enclosed shopping malls in the United States. [Note: Greater Denver's Lakeside Center (August 1956) and Amarillo's Sunset Center (September 1960) had enclosed and open-air sections. Hence, they were not originally fully-enclosed.]
1. Southdale Center, Edina, MN (October 8, 1956)
2. Harundale Mall, Anne Arundel County, MD (October 1, 1958)
3. Big Town Mall, Mesquite, TX (February 26, 1959)
4. Charlottetown Mall, Charlotte, NC (October 29, 1959)
5. Eastwood Mall, Birmingham, AL (August 25, 1960)
6. The Crossroads, Omaha, NE (September 10, 1960)
7. North Star Mall, San Antonio, TX (September 23, 1960)
8. Town & Country Mall, Overland, MO (November 3, 1960)
9. West Park Plaza, Billings, MT (June 1, 1961)
10. Crossroads Mall, Roanoke County, VA (July 27, 1961)
THE FIRST ENCLOSED MALLS OF THE 50 STATES:
All entrants encompassed at least 150,000 leasable square feet
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