City of Derby

Derby Historical Museum

The Derby Historical Museum will be open from April through October on the second and fourth Saturday of the month from 10 am to 2 pm. It will also be open during special events, such as Derby Days, Alumni Day and others. The museum is open and free to the public.

Membership Information & Volunteering

Annual memberships to the museum are available. An individual membership is $6, a family membership is $10 and an individual lifetime membership is $250. If you're interested, download the membership application on the top right of this page.

The museum is seeking volunteers to help with special events, fundraising, and during regular operating hours. If you're interested, contact Darrell Butterfield at 316-788-7740.

About the Museum

The Derby Historical Museum, located at 710 E. Market, contains a wide variety of Derby history. The museum is housed in a 1923 school building. This building held all 12 grades until 1952 when a separate high school was built.

The museum is maintained by the Derby Historical Society. It operates completely on a donation and volunteer basis. The museum does not have regular operating hours, but tours are open to the public and available upon request. If you would like to arrange a tour, please call Darrell Butterfield at 788-7740 or Susan Swaney at 788-7788.

Features of the Museum

1870 Log Cabin
The cabin was built six miles southeast of Oxford, Kan. In 1995 it was moved from Friends University to the museum. Inside the cabin there are a variety of antique items that would have been in the cabin during this time period.

Bank Room
In this room, visitors can find an original safe from the old Farmer’s and Merchants State Bank in Derby.

Covered Wagon
This is an original, two-horse covered wagon that traveled to the area from North Carolina in the 1860s.

General Store
Contains a collection of antique pharmaceuticals, scales, ladies’ shoes and more.

Military Room
This room houses military artifacts from World War I, Ward War II, the Vietman War and the Gulf War. It opened in April 2007.

Music Room
This room has a variety of organs and antique phonograph players, many of which belonged to Derby families.

School Room
Contains a variety of old time school items, including desks, slates, books, a teacher's desk and more.

Sewing Room
This room contains a variety of items, including a button collection that contains 40,000 pieces.

Other
Cemetery record book with burials in the El Paso Cemetery from 1878 to 1975...Early 1900 high school year books...the class of 1911 only had two students.

Questions or comments? Please email webmaster@derbyweb.com.