Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Derby

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
C−History
History · Derby

Derby dates to 1871, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 21% of U.S. towns · #116 of 151 in Kansas. What drives it

Most of Derby was built recently: 0.6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Its Register listing is the Derby Public School-District 6. Below: maps from 1943 on and the census since 1890.

1871founded
1on the National Register
0.6%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Derby began

When was Derby founded?

1871

Derby dates its founding to 1871 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1890.

First census: 236 in 18902020 census: 25,625155 years

How historic is Derby?

C−

More historic than 21% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1870.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Derby’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Derby is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #116 of 151 in Kansas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Derby’s overall grade.
Founding era1871, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.6% of homes (±0.5) · typical KS town 10.3% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 0.4 per 10,000 residents · typical KS town 5.1 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 21%
NewerOlder
Kansas towns of 2,500+ (151)Ahead of 23%

Kansas towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kansas town has 5.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Derby’s 0.4 sits near the middle of its state (38% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.5 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1871.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Derby’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 Derby are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Derby, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Derby’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Derby’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Derby’s post office has been open since 1881. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Sand Ford
1870–1871
El Paso
1871–1881
Derby
1881–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Rolling Green Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Beyer Farm AirportairportHamilton Fieldairport
1cemetery inside Derby
El Paso

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

The story

How Derby came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Derby.

Read it all →

In 1870, settlers John Haufbauer and J.H. Minich built the first houses, smithies, and general stores on the site that would become Derby. In 1871, the community was named El Paso, after El Paso, Illinois, and was laid out and platted. In 1880, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway changed the name of its rail station to Derby, after railroad official C.F. Derby, to avoid confusion with El Paso, Texas.

In 1903, the city incorporated with the name El Paso, but the city remained largely a rural community until after World War II.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Derby, 1870 to 1989

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1870Post officeThe Sand Ford post office opens
  3. 1871
    FoundingDerby is established
  4. 1871Post officeThe Sand Ford post office closes
  5. 1871Post officeThe El Paso post office opens
  6. 1881Post officeThe El Paso post office closes
  7. 1881Post officeThe Derby post office opens
  8. 20th century
  9. 1923BuiltDerby Public School-District 6 is built
  10. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1986Born hereSherrone Moore is born here
  12. 1989Born hereDavid Rickels is born here
By decade

Derby, decade by decade

Today8 recent
DerbyKansasWaterTower2026DerbyKansasWaterTowerLogo of2022Logo ofOpening Day Line2018Opening Day LineAmphitheatre at Field Station- Dinosaurs in2018Amphitheatre at Field Station- Dinosaurs inHonor across generations 130704-F-BZ556-0102013Honor across generations 130704-F-BZ556-010Detailed map of2010Detailed map ofMapKta 0392006Kta 039KSMap-doton-Derby2005KSMap-doton-Derby
On the map

Derby on the map, 1943 to 1982

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

Derby on the 1943 USGS mapDerby on the 1956 USGS mapDerby on the 1960 USGS mapDerby on the 1970 USGS mapDerby on the 1982 USGS map1943Derby sheet · 1:31,680

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Derby

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2014
Derby Public School-District 6
Derby Public School-District 6, built 1923
Buildings
All 1 listings
Derby Public School-District 6Building · listed 2014

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Derby, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,000190019201940196019802000202025,625

Grew from 236 people in 1890 to 25,625 in 2020, more than tenfold.

13 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Derby

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
D
David RickelsAmerican martial artist · b. 1989
Sherrone MooreAmerican football player and coach · b. 1986
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Riverside Township1 historic placeC−Rockford Township1 historic placeC−Gypsum TownshipIts storyD

Questions about Derby’s history

What year was Derby founded?

In 1871, according to Wikidata. Derby’s post office opened in 1870, and the census of 1890 counted 236 people here.

How does Derby rank for history?

Derby is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #116 of 151 in Kansas. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Derby?

One place: the Derby Public School-District 6 (listed 2014).

How old are the homes in Derby?

0.6% of Derby’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1991.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (8), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.