Historical Marker
DeRidder - The Sawmill Hub
DeRidder, Beauregard County · Louisiana
DeRidder began as a platted stop on a railroad. Calvin Shirley's log house of 1893, on 160 acres he had homesteaded, was the first building in town. The place was called Schovall before the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad arrived in 1897, and it reportedly took its present name from Ella de Ridder, sister-in-law of the Dutch financier Jan de Goeijen. Incorporated in 1903, it lost much of its business district to a fire in April 1904 that was suspected arson. On October 15, 1912, it was chosen as the seat of the new parish.
Where it stands
30.84440, -93.28627 · Directions
More markers nearby
- Beauregard Parish Gothic Jail — steps away
- Shootout At Grabow — 2.8 mi
- Grabow Riot — 3.7 mi
- Wolf Rock Cave — 10 mi