Draper is located in a small rural town in Indiana called Spiceland. We’ve been here since 1902. The town center consists of a grocery store, bank, barber shop, library, community building, post office…and once a small drugstore called Andy’s Drugstore.
Andy's Drug Store Collapses (Photo courtesy of New Castle Courier Times)
Many of us here at Draper have fond memories of Andy’s Drugstore, which for decades was the social gathering place in Spiceland’s tiny business district. Franny (or Andy) and Ruby Anderson are long gone, and in recent years their building fell into disrepair. On a raw, wet Saturday morning in March the back end of the building collapsed, rendering it an eyesore and a safety hazard.
Library after removal of fallen drugstore and landscaping of park
Draper participated in the demolition of the building and paid to have the exposed wall of the adjoining Spiceland Library building re-bricked. Now that summer has finally arrived, we are landscaping the vacant lot and turning it into a small park.
We hope Franny and Ruby would be pleased that the site of their drugstore is once again a gathering place for their friends in Spiceland.
I have very fond memories of Andy and Ruby, as I worked for them from the age of 14 to 18 at the drugstore. When the building fell it broke my heart. I am so blessed to work at Draper who is so conscientious of the community around them. I get to drive by the new park each evening on my way home and I always smile when I see people gathered on the benches talking. It kind of reminds me of the town people gathering in the last booth in the drugstore to have coffee (and some town gossip).
Thank you John
I would like to thank you for fixing this building and making the park as a member of this community i appreciate all the work Draper puts into the town. You make this a better place to live and work.