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The History of DeRidder
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The story of DeRidder
goes something like this. In 1893, railroads were being built in the
United States, and one of their builders was Mr. Stilwell. There was an
international financial crisis that year, and Mr. Stilwell could not
raise the $3 million needed to finish constructing a railroad from
Kansas City down to the Gulf, about 800 miles. Since he could not raise
the money in the United States, he decided to go to Europe for aid. He
first tried England, but failed. 
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Continued Mr. Stilwell found Jan Dehouyen and told him about his plans for building the railroad in the United States. These plans intrigued Jan Dehouyen, so he raised the $3 million needed for this Kansas City Southern Railroad. Then Mr. Dehouyen decided to change careers from coffee to railroads, and traveled to the United States with Mr. Stilwell. Jan Dehouyen kept an office in
Amsterdam, Holland, and there was a map in his office showing Kansas
City in the north and the Gulf in the south. Occasionally, Mr.
Dehouyen would be asked to name a place, which might be of interest
in the future, which was located along the railroad. Mr. Dehouyen
had a sister-in-law named Ella DeRidder Dehouyen. She was a
beautiful girl from Belgium, and was a favorite relative of Jan
Dehouyen. He named our city “DeRidder”, in honor of his
sister-in-law. |
| He then went to Holland for assistance.
He was at a loss while in Amsterdam, and then remembered a young coffee
merchant he had met while on a previous trip to Europe with his wife.
Mr. Stilwell went to the Coffee Exchange for their list of members, and
found the name of the young merchant, Jan Dehouyen. Continue top right... |
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