Derrs 41° 11' 13'' North, 76° 29' 31" West, Elevation: 1,272 ft. Derrs, Pennsylvania is situated in Columbia County along the Little Fishing Creek Branch of our watershed. Some of the surrounding towns are Coles Mill, Jackson, and Benton. Now, this town is very small, but it was once much larger. The earliest settlers to this area came from New Jersey in 1794. This land was forestland, and so lumbering was the main industry. Once the land was cleared of its forests, soon they turned to farming. In 1853, a man by the name of George Derr, bought some land near Creasyville, and managed a sawmill powered by a water wheel. Then, in 1854 Hiram Derr purchased 585 acres of land. This land was located between Rohrsburg, Creasyville and Waller. He then divided the land among his seven children and they helped one another build homes on their bit of land. Most of them became farmers. This was now the area of the Derrs Community. There were actually four schools in the area, but now only one of these is left, which is the Redline one-room-schoolhouse. This small school is now a dwelling. The Christian congregation was organized in 1858. Services were held in the Baptist Church until 1879. A country store and a Derrs post office were opened in 1885. They were managed by Elias Steven and Jack Derr. Every Saturday the Steven family would sing songs and act out plays they'd created for the community at their house. It was soon the meeting place for everyone in the area. Each of these buildings were closed and reopened several times by other families. These new stores were most often country stores. Through the years, lumber mills were built and managed by five men of the names; Judd Christain, Hiram Derr, John Lemons, Elias Watts and Joseph Redline. Finally, in the beginning of 1900 farming began to take place. A blacksmith shop was opened then by George Farver. This old forge is now gone, but in its place stands the Baptist parsonage. Soon after another blacksmith by the name of Albert Kelsey began the business once more. All that is left in the town now is two churches, one cemetery, a fewhouses, the closed down country store, and of course, the old country road which runs through it all. by Genevieve