Karl Drerup Art Gallery/Draper & Maynard Building - Plymouth, NH
Posted by: 
NorStar
N 43° 45.621 W 071° 41.242
19T E 283673 N 4848766
The Draper & Maynard building, now an art gallery and part of the Plymouth State University campus, was once a glove manufacturing place where the baseball catcher's mitt was developed.
Waymark Code: WMQT0D
Location: New Hampshire, United States
Date Posted: 03/25/2016
Views: 3
In Plymouth, just north of a rotary, is the Draper & Maynard factory building, now hosing the Karl Drerup Art Gallery and on the Plymouth State University campus.
The building is on the west side of Main Street and on the northwest corner of a rotary. There is parking next to the building.
The building is a four-story brick structure, rectangular with a protrusion on the east side. Each floor has large windows. The roof is flat. The main entrance is on the south side. There are two signs on the building: one is Draper & Maynard, and the other is Karl Prerup Art Gallery. There is a historical sign also by the building. The sign states that the the company occupied this building from 1840 to 1937. At first it manufactured buckskin gloves. It became Draper and Maynard in 1881. The company developed the first catcher's mitt and at one time manufactured over 80% of the market. The previous building burned down in 1911, and this building was built in it place (assuming they built right away). I'm not sure what it was used for after 1937. However, in 1992, Plymouth State University bought the building, and it it now houses the art gallery. This is the date used, below.
The name, Draper & Maynard, lives on, though the company closed in 1937 after the deaths of the two owners. In 1902, a Japanese company bought rights to the brand and sold sport products in Japan. After the company closed, a company in Cincinnati bought the brand and sold equipment under that brand in the U.S. The Japanese Company still exists and visited the building on the 100th anniversary of the company.
Sources:
Plymouth Magazine:
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visit link)
Nutfieldgenealogy blog (Draper and Maynard):
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visit link)
Plymouth State University (Karl Drerup Art Gallery):
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visit link)