Maple Landmark combines history and local resources to continue the traditions of woodworking in the area.
Mike Rainville first came to woodworking as a hobby in the 1970’s while he was in school. Working out of his parents’ basement with scraps from his grandfather’s carpentry projects, he duplicated household items, things like spool holders and cribbage boards. Before long friends and neighbors were asking Mike to make things and by 1979, he started selling wholesale.
After graduating Clarkson University in 1984, Mike went to work constructing a new woodshop of ample size for his now full-time business, now known as Maple Landmark Woodcraft. The choice “Maple Landmark” as the name for the business was a natural extension of the name Mike’s family used for their maple sugaring business and dairy farm, Maple Landmark Homestead. His grandfather, Fletcher Brown made maple syrup for over 65 years and was always available to lend a hand.
The product line grew and evolved over the coming years, adding items like trivets, ornaments, and name trains. Their creative abilities increased in late 1996 when they introduced laser engraving and pad printing to the production processes. The ability to add graphic designs to their products has been central to product development ever since.
In 2001, Montgomery Schoolhouse, another long established Vermont wooden toy company, became a part of Maple Landmark, operations were consolidated in Middlebury. Currently Maple Landmark employs over 40 people and sells product to a couple thousand gift shops and toy stores throughout the country and abroad. They have become the pre-eminent wooden toy manufacturer in the United States.
Maple Landmark stands by their values in forestry health, doing business locally, made in the USA products, using natural resources responsibly, recycling and conservation, civic participation, and abiding by their code of conduct.
