Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
2 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1919 on, and the census since 1900.
Derby Center first appears in the census in 1900.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Derby Center’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Derby Center. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Derby Center.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Derby Center yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Derby Center is a village in the town of Derby, Orleans County, Vermont, United States. The population was 635 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1900. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 597 to 635 (+6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Derby Center, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The thrifty village of Newport, the village of West Derby, and a considerable part of Derby Center, are on territory once granted to the proprietors of Salem ; wtiile within its bounds, as finally established, there is no village, nor any natural center of business and population. It does not contain asingle store tavern, mechanic's shop, post ofl&ce, house of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1850s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Derby Center’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 292 and 684 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Derby Center’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Derby Center itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Derby Center post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (4), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1859–1885
1859–1885
2012
2011