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Kem Plastic Playing Cards, Inc
Kem Plastic Playing Cards as it appeared during most of its life in Poughkeepsie. Note the entrance in the middle of the photo. The metal electric poles behind the building ran along the right of way of the Poughkeepsie & Eastern Railroad. The wires on the black poles in the front of the building were probably of wood and carried power at lower voltage levels to the nearby buildings. -
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Steel Plant Library 1997-1999 (1)
The steel plant was sandwiched between route nine and Bech Place. The entrance was located along Bech Place. The building at the far left of this photo was the former Kem Plastic Playing Card Co location. At one time Bech Place led directly into route nine, but that route had been closed off before 1997. -
Bech Estate Architectural Drawing
The above drawing shows the wooden barn which was located where the present Marian dormitory now exists. -
Bech Estate - Greystone
The architectural sketch below shows on the left the stables and on the right the carriage house that Detlef Lienau designed for the Bech family. The carriage house is known today as Greystone and houses the college president's office, the admissions office and the Ecommerce lab. This architectural image was featured in the 1992 issue of Marist Magazine. -
Steel Plant Studios
The main section has high ceilings. At the right is the framework for outdoor exhibits. At the extreme right of the photo is a pink building. This was the Kem Plastic Playing Cards company building which was demolished. -
Map 1166 portion of Fairview in 1919
This map of a section of Fairview between Cedar Street and Fulton Street includes the section with housing along Albany Post Road. However, it also identified Permalife Company, a manufacturer of storage batteries using its patented method of inserting positive and negative terminals, and Soap Company, holder of patents on the manufacture of its soap. Liberty Starter Co manufactured electric starters powered by batteries for autos (earlier autos required hand cranking to turn the engine over). -
Western Printing & Lithographing Company
During the 1970s and 1980s Marist College rented space in the former Western Publishing Building directly across North Road. This photo shows that the original building by F.I.A.T. was still in use (compare with the postcard of F.I.A.T.). -
Western (Whitman) Publishing building
Compare this building with that pictured in the F.I.A.T. photo to see that Western Printing and Lithographing Company used the same structure, but modified it to suit its printing and publishing functions -
Postcards of FIAT plant
This photo taken during the FIAT time period(1910-1918) shows a close resemblance to the plant when it was owned by Western Printing and Lithographing Co. -
Assembly within the FIAT plant
Assembly within the Poughkeepsie FIAT plant was done by hand in the same decade that Henry Ford used an assembly line to turn out a larger number of Fords at a cheaper unit price. Only upscale models like those hand produced by Duesenburg and Lancia managed to remain in operation past the great depression. -
Map 713 - Fairview Development plan 1910
This map shows the right of way obtained in 1872 by the Water Comissioners of Poughkeepsie to install a line across the property to reach a resevoir, and the railroad sector obtained by the Poughkeepsie and Eastern RR. The water line ran up the water works road dividing the Marist property, a stub of this road shows near the word "Post" below Albany Post Road. -
William Davies land as of 1858
Map of the property of T L Davies and W A Davies in 1858 as surveyed by Henry D Myers, Surveyor. -
Longview Park
This dock can handle larger sailboats and cruise boate, as it has sufficient depth next to it to allow large ships to dock. It is near the tunnel that provides access to Longview Park. -
Sailing at Marist
Andrew Molloy, Professor of chemistry, became the first moderator of the Marist Sailing team, shortly after the construction of the Martin Boathouse in 1963. -
Crew Blogs
From Jim Callahan, received 10 October 2012 -
Martin Boathouse
The William Martin boathouse almost completed in 1963. The bulwork in the lower part of the photo was placed on land of the city of Poughkeepsie to aid the Cornell and California boathouses, but the Martin boathouse was fronted with huge bolders set by Brother Nilus Donnelly. -
Dutton Lumber Company
Current view of the former Dutton Lumber Company site. The tarmac at the bottom of the photo is Marist College property near the Martin Boathouse. The next 750 feet was once owned by the Marist Brothers, but was sold to Dutton as the company expanded. The Brothers used the proceeds of the sale to convert Greystone from a carriage house to an academic building. -
Boathouse area
Boathouse row shortly after completion of the Martin boathouse. The city of Poughkeepsie, which owned the Cornell and California boathouses, restored the shoreline by driving piles. When this proved too costly for Marist College, Brother Nilus imported large boulders from the construction site along Parker Avenue which became the Andros diner. The boulders were too heavy for his normal crane. He bought a surplus truck and surplus small heavy duty crane from from the government war surplus system, mounted the crane on the truck, and used that hybrid to position the rocks along the shore. The trucks porting the boulders from Parker Avenue would not fit through the 1913 tunnel; Dutton allowed the college to truck them in through their lumber yard. The incline at the extreme left of this photo just past the Cornell Boathouse is for launching motor crafts. -
Harvey Gridley Eastman
The Harvey Gridley Eastman graves are located in Section Q of the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery. They extend from the two urns (unused) back to the tall monument with his bas relief. -
Water Treatment Facility
View of the water treatment facility from Longview Park. The original site (1872) was on land taken from the Swains who owned the Barnard parcel north of the water works road, and the Bechs who owned the parcel south of the water works road. Originally owned entirely by the City of Poughkeepsie, the Town of Poughkeepsie bought partial shares after the relocation of the facility from its original site. -
Shoreline overview
The Hudson River shoreline in the Marist College area. Note that the railroad veers away from the shoreline while passing through the city of Poughkeepsie. -
McCann Center Dedication
Ron Petro at right speaking to a guest on the day of the dedication of the James J McCann Recreation Center -
Poughkeepsie Waste Water Plant
Aerial view of the Marist campus about 1975. The waste water plant is under construction at the lower right between the New York Central railroad and the railroad approaching from the middle of the photo to the lower right. Marist College purchased the entire triangle of land between the railroads to beyond the brown patch of ground which would site the McCann Athletic center. When Marist transferred the 2.4 acres to the City of Poughkeepsie in December 1974, it acquired land no longer used by the water plant. This included the filter beds, now converted into five tennis courts at the far left and the green patch to the tennis courts and some land between the railroad and the Hudson River. The original of the gymnasium constructed in 1948 remains, so the photo was taken before its conversion into the Marian Dormitory. The outdoor swimming pool at upper left remained in use until completion of the McCann Center pool. -
McCann Center pool
View of the pool soon after its opening in 1977. Marist had to contend with a problem in the design. Most college pools were two pools, one for diving, and one with a 25yard (or 50 yard) length, as most college meets were run in yards, not meters. Yet the move towards metric was beginning. How to avoid obsolescence yet compete with its current fellow colleges? The solution was to create one pool, with a moveable bulkhead. This would permit races at the yard distances but also races at the meter distances. -
leveling the Myers land
The Myers parcel sloped rapidly downwards, roughly in the same manner as the Poughkeepsie & Eastern Railroad tracks (at the right and out of this photo). The work on the new route nine (called at that time the arterial) brought in a great amount of clean fill. The contractor received permission from the railroad to transport the fill directly from the road site across the railroad tracks, which eliminated the need to reload the fill onto second trucks. The photo above has several interesting elements. The intake building for the water works has a tall smokestack, now gone. The new waterworks is visible, as is the major building for the Hudson River State Hospital and at the far north the towers of Saint Andrew's Jesuit Seminary. The Newbold parcel, purchased by Marist College in 1997 is covered with foliage but extends to Quiet Cove, with the buildings on shore near the straight railroad tracks. -
McCann Center framework
When it came time to design the interior, Louis Greenspan, who worked with the McCann Foundation, located a large shipment of wood in Maine. The first floor was designed with an asphalt composition, so the wood was used for the walls. This gives the interior a distinctive look and feel. A wood floor was installed later. -
NYCentral separating Myers land
The Myers parcel purchased by Marist College is the triangle of green between the railroad tracks and the brown dirt at the left being prepared for the new route nine. It ends approximately at the shaded green parallel to the dormitories. Originally it was connected to a dock area just orth of the gray docks at the south end of the Dutton Lumber Yard. -
Ice Harvesting
The photo above taken at Rockland Lake shows conveyers to a large ice house. The photo below is of a modest enterprise. Lakes were used for convenience. The Hudson River was salty from New York City to above Newburgh, so harvesting along the Hudson was limited to the the Poughkeepsie to Albany area. On the plus side, Hudson River harvesters had railroad and boat access to New York City. -
Henry Duane Myers and his wife Susan
The sale Charles C North to Henry D Myers shifted transactions from speculation to usage. Henry was a surveyor. From his knowledge of the earlier deeds and general topography of the area, he negotiated access rights to his dock along the Hudson River as well as water rights extending into the Hudson. -
Field drainage project about 1974
This infrastructure project is typical of the many handled by Lou Greenspan in the 1970s and 1980s. The field near St. Peters building and the Kieran Gatehouse near route nine had constantly been wet and damp The water collected in the field because there was a stone ridge running north and south along the main road running in front of the chapel. The field collected water not only from the rain but also from drains inserted under route nine in the nineteenth century. -
First lay resident students
the first contingent of resident lay students (meaning students who were not Marist Brothers) were housed in Fall 1959 at the Kings Court Hotel on Cannon Street. When that arrangement proved unsatisfactory, they were moved on campus to Saint Mary's dormitory, just below the old Novitiate building (the original Bech house) -
Donnelly Hall
Resident students lounging on the exterior walkway which was an original feature of the building. Later renovations extended the outer wall to the edge of the ramp to provide more space. The upper floor rooms for 40 students was opened the first year and 40 more students were placed in the lower floor the next year. Note electric wires on bottom of the walkway. -
Adrian Building
The Adrian building, named after Brother Adrian August, long time chemistry teacher at Marian College and organist and choir director for two decades, was built as a student lounge for the lay students attending the college and as a reception hall for parents of student brothers who visited the college. -
Gazebo
This gazebo was probably constructed by the Brothers, date unknown. The flagpole behind it was close to the Marian classroom building and facing the Greystone building. -
Student Brothers dormitory
The student Brothersl' dormitory was built on the side of a hill, with only a single story building visible from the east. These were used as administrative offices, first for Brother Paul Ambrose Fontaine, later for President Foy, Anthony Campill the first full time business officer, admissions and even dean of students. A passageway just beyond the windowed office led to the dormitory itself. At far right is a little glimpse of the upper floor of the study hall & dining room which led directly to the back of the chapel. -
Student Brothers study & dining room
The western facade of the student brothers' dining and study area. This photo was taken after completion of the student brothers' dormitory at right of the picture. The ginkgo tree tree in the center court was matches with a ginkgo tree at the main intersection. These trees,native to China, were often used as ornamental street trees. -
Carrying the chapel beams
" ...We agreed to change to the timber roof you see today. Mr. Pratt (the architect) took a vacation and drove out West to talk to the engineers of Timber Structures. They worked very fast, and from July 7 to July 28 several carloads of roof beams arrived and were carried across Route 9 on the shoulders of the Scholastics to the site of the building." -
Our Lady Seat of Wisom Chapel
View of Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Chapel from the southeast. Brother Paul Ambrose Fontaine hoped to have the chapel finished in time for the Marian Year (1954). It was in unofficial use by the end of 1953. -
Marian Gymnasium - 1947-1948
The gymnasium was built mainly by the student brothers and during the summers by brothers already teaching in Marist schools, with the brickwork by professional masons. Brother Francis Xavier, psychology and history teacher at the college, organized and supervised the construction. -
Saint Mary dormitory
The Saint Mary Dormitory was a two story bungalow built September to October 1941 to expand the Novitiate quarters for postulants and novices for whom sleeping quarters until then was limited to the upper floor of the former Bech house. The Novitiate was transferred to Tyngsboro in 1949, and Saint Marys was used to house Juniors for a year or two, then became vacant. -
Bee Hives
By the 1940s the bee operation had been located at the Novitiate. There were two rows of hives, and half of a building next to Saint Mary's dormitory was devoted to the bee operation. Brother Petrus was the first beekeeper. By 1940 Brother Henry Charles, Master of Novices, was the beekeeper. -
Short history of Marist Library
The earliest records we have of a library relate to the Greystone building. Now housing the President's related offices, it was the Bech carriage house. In 1930 it was enlarged to prepare it for academic use. -
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Stations of the Cross
Base for one of the 14 outdoor stations of the Cross is within sight of the Champagnat Dormitory, but not noticed. The foundations for each station were built by Brother Paul Acyndinus. -
Outdoor Calvary group
When the Bech estate was taken over by the Marist Brothers, the European tradition of outdoor statuary followed. One of the first was an outdoor Calvary group cited in the Annals for the year 1909. The group pictured here was donated in 1920 by a Mrs. Dowd to replace the less elegant first group. -
Railroad tunnel
This tunnel was constructed after agreement by Brothers not to allow crossing of the tracks and by the railroad to construct two pedestrian overpasses, one in the Barnard parcel, the other in the Bech parcel. -
Bungalows
One of the two bungalows built by the Brothers located on what is the mall between Champagnat and Donnelly. The larger building at the right was a workshop from the Bech era, located just below the Greystone building. -
Marist Land History: Marist Brothers Cemetery 1909-1953
The Marist Brothers cemetery was placed at the lowest end of the Bech property, just north of the Myers parcel. It was established in 1909 when Brother Charles Camille died at the age of 23. -
History of the Bech house
The Bechs upgraded the house by adding a second similar tower at the left, which nearly matched the tower at the right. Eventually the entire structure was covered with red asphalt siding. This is how the Brothers now alive would have remembered it.