This border town is a point of entry with an opera house whose entrance is in the United States and its stage is across the border in Canada. The U.S. Customs office at Derby is open 24 hours, the Eastern Township town of Stanstead, P.Q. borders Derby to the north.

Derby is home to wholesale merchants and manufacturers such as New Project USA, Derby Color Lab, North Country Engineering, Tivoly USA, and Arbor Research Corp.

The historic and unique Haskell Free Library and Opera House is located here - this building houses a library and hosts live performances - the building is partially located in Quebec and in the United States. It opened on June 7, 1904 and was built on the border between Canada and the United States. The library collection and the opera stage are located in Stanstead, but the library check-out and the opera seats are located in Derby Line. Because of this, the Haskell is sometimes called "the only library in America with no books" and "the only opera house in America with no stage". A thick black line runs beneath the seats of the opera house and diagonally across the centre (or center) of the library's reading room to mark the international boundary. The stage and half of the seats are in Canada, the remainder of the opera hall is in the US.

The building was created by American sawmill owner Carlos Haskell and his Canadian wife Martha Stewart Haskell for use by the people of both countries; profits from the opera house were originally intended to support the operation of the free library. The Haskell family donated the building to the towns of Derby Line and Rock Island in Mr. Haskell's memory; it is run by an private international board of four American and three Canadian directors. The library has a collection of more than 20,000 books and is open to the public Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Registered in the National Register of Historic Places since 1976, this landmark also appeared in Ripley's Believe It or Not.

The town of Derby has several nice lakes; including Lake Derby, and Lake Salem. The Lake Salem Inn is located here, they offer lakefront lodging year round. Villages within Derby include, Derby Line and Derby Center.

Derby, VT Weather

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Derby, VT Population: 4,777
County: Orleans county Vermont
Chartered: October 29, 1779
Area: 37,696 acres

The Lake Salem Inn, 1273 VT. Route 105, Derby, VT 05829 Ph: 802-766-5560 or 802-766-5177. This one of a kind inn sits on seven secluded acres of peaceful tranquility with a scenic sweep of Lake Salem. Located in Derby in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. Full breakfast features homemade sweet breads or Italian Semolina Bread. Dinner available by reservation. If you are seeking privacy, solitude, warm hospitality, and fresh foods this inn is for you. Located directly on the VAST snowmobile trail and Lake Salem with fishing, boating, and swimming available. The Lake Salem Inn cannot accommodate children or pets. Visit www.lakesaleminn.com or e-mail the innkeepers.