A history of DeRidder,
since 1903

DeRidder was named for Ella de Ridder, the sister-in-law of a Dutch railroad financier, Jan de Goeijen (cf. De Queen, Arkansas). Her family originally came from the small town of Geldermalsen in the Netherlands, where she was one of 13 children. She ran away from home at an early age and was presumed dead by her family, who only later discovered that she had traveled to the United States. The town was named for her by her brother-in-law, who brought the first railroad to that area of Louisiana. Prior to that, the little town was known as Schovall. The first train line to serve DeRidder came in 1897. It was the Kansas City, Pittsburgh & Gulf Railroad, later called the Kansas City Southern and now Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC).

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