A Brief History of Derby, Kansas On March 7, 1869 Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Garrett stopped their covered wagon on the bank of Spring Creek. This land, just south and slightly east of the old Derby school building, was described to the Garretts by a trader and traveler named MacWilliams as the "garden spot of Kansas". Although the Garretts arrived at Derby first, this town was established by J. Houte Minnich and John Hufbauer on July 11, 1871. They came from El Paso, Illinois and decided that this plat should bear the same name.  Soon after, in 1878, a disastrous fire consumed half of the business district causing most of the discouraged citizens to leave. By 1880 the railroad had pushed further south and the mail for El Paso, Kansas and El Paso, Texas was constantly being mixed up. To fix this, the railroad depot was named Derby after a railroad official, C. F. Derby. People slowly started calling the town itself Derby, but it was not officially changed for almost 80 years. In 1957, El Paso, Kansas finally became Derby, Kansas. The first Derby bank was started in 1884 by Dr. H. C. Tucker, an early doctor, business man, civic and religious leader. In 1907, it was replaced with Farmers and Merchants state bank. The original First National Bank was opened in March of 1974.