Editing Derby, Vermont (section)

==History==
On October 29, 1779, the state of Vermont chartered it to Timothy Andrus and fifty-nine associates, with an area of {{convert|23040|acre|km2}}. It was named after [[Derby]], in [[England]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n103 104]}}</ref>

In the [[War of 1812]], an expeditionary force of Quebec Eastern Townships' volunteers destroyed a barracks built at Derby with no personnel casualties.<ref>{{cite web|title=Townships Heritage Web Magazine |work=A Distant Drum: The War of 1812 in Missisquoi County |url=http://www.townshipsheritage.com/Eng/Hist/Military/warof1812.html |access-date=January 2, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050423205943/http://www.townshipsheritage.com/Eng/Hist/Military/warof1812.html |archive-date=April 23, 2005 }}</ref>

Portus Baxter and David Camp were [[Underground Railroad]] agents before the Civil War.<ref>{{Cite book |first = Michelle Arnosky |last = Sherburne |title = Abolition & the Underground Railroad in Vermont |publisher = The History Press|date = 2013 |location = Charleston, SC  |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=5NV2CQAAQBAJ&q=%22george+putnam%22+underground+railway+vermont&pg=PT94 |isbn =978-1-62584-494-1}}</ref>

On October 31, 1866,<!---the exact day is crucial here since it predates all others in the US---> the town erected a granite monument at Derby Center in honor of those who died in the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. It is inscribed: "In Memory of the Volunteers from Derby, who Lost their Lives in the Great Rebellion, 1861-’65.” It lists the names of fifty-three men from Derby.<ref name=Child>Gazetteer of Lamoille and Orleans Counties, VT.; 1883-1884, Compiled and Published by Hamilton Child; May 1887</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Ishinan |url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vermont/OrleansDerby.html |title=XX indexVermont |publisher=Rootsweb.ancestry.com |access-date=January 25, 2012}}</ref> It is the oldest community memorial to that war in the United States.<ref>The Northland Journal, November 2008, page 15, "Civil War Monument in Derby - Oldest Community Memorial to that War in the United States", Scott Wheeler</ref>

The failed town of Salem was annexed to Derby by an act of the legislature of 1880, and took effect March 1, 1881. This increased the land size of Derby so it became the largest in Orleans County.<ref name="Child"/>

Like many Orleans County towns, Derby grew in population until 1890, after which the [[Panic of 1893|depression (then called "panics") of 1893]] affected the local economy and agricultural prices. Population fluctuated until it hit a bottom in 1940. The town has grown steadily since.<ref>[http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~vermontgenealogyresources/Townships/Orleans/Derbytown.html Vermont Genealogy Resources - Derby, Orleans County<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

In 1917, the city of Newport was formed from portions of the towns of [[Newport (town), Vermont|Newport]] (the former village of Newport) and Derby (the former village of West Derby).

In 1928, the Canadian Gateway Airport opened off [[Vermont Route 111]], within walking distance from Derby Center. It was the third airport constructed in the state. The larger and older airport, Burlington, was given the designation of "entry airport" from Canada resulting in the closure of Gateway in 1933.<ref>{{Cite journal |first=Scott |last=Wheeler |date=June 2010 |title=Remembering the Canadian Gateway Airport in Derby |journal=Vermont's Northland Journal |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=4–10 }}</ref>

A [[drive-in theater]] opened in 1950 and closed in 1985 on the Derby Road (Route 5).<ref>{{Cite journal |date=July 2008 |title=Don "Sleepy" McNally:from Vaudeville to Drive-in Pioneer |journal=Vermont's Northland Journal |volume=7 |issue=4 |page=3 }}</ref>