Kem Card Plant

Kem Plastic Playing Cards Co

In 1946, Kem Plastic Playing Cards Co purchased the 27 acre Winslow estate between the Hudson River and route 9 from Runk Realty Corp.  Shortly thereafter, it negotiated with Western Printing and Lithographing for the purchase of a building just behind the Steel Plant Studio situated along the Poughkeepsie & Eastern tracks.  The building encroached on the right of way of the railroad, which preserved its rights to the affected land by charging $10 per year rent to the building owners. In its expansion years, Western had established a division called Western Playing Card Company that was active in the 1920s, but ceased operation sometime in the early 1940s.  A division of Western Playing Card Company may have been located in the building, and Western reserved the right to store items in part of the building. See note for details.

Kem relocated to Mattituck NY on the north fork of Long Island.  It was purchased in 2004 by United States Playing Card Company, which in turn became a subsidiary of Jarden.  Kem sells plastic cards made of cellulose acetate  so they are washable and durable.  They are difficult to duplicate.  This makes them the favorite for casinos, gaming rooms, and card rooms.  They are available to individuals via the Internet at prices ranging from $35 to $65 per deck. (Source: Marist College Land History: Marist Land East of Route Nine)

 

The Kem Playing Card building was probably originally constructed by the Permalife Battery Company about the time FIAT Motor Company operated in the space immediately north of Fulton Street.  After Kem purchased the building, it was discovered that the eastern wall of the building was actually on the land of the railroad (which had passed through there in 1868.  The building was also about three feet over the property line at the north end.  Kem solved the latter problem by purchasing the property to the north,  seen here as two sheds and parking lot.  The railroad charged Kem $10 per annum rent for the incursion, which solidified the railroad's claim to its land. After Marist College demolished the Kem structure (both Permalife and Kem used strong chemicals in their manufacturing processes; Marist decided to not build on the site, probably because of the shape of the land area, but also because of the cost of clearing any contamination before rebuilding on the site. (Source: Kem Plastic Playing Cards, Inc)

The Shell gas station tucked in the triangle south of the Steel Plant was a Clay service station in the 1940s; it was noted for keeping late hours until about 11:00 pm each night. It  was taken over by two young Italian Giangrasso immigrants who operated the station until 1973.  They then relocated their auto repair business to County Carburetor Inc on North Hamilton Street.  On Friday 14 October 1914, the County Carburetor building collapsed during a heavy snowstorm. Town officials indicted that the roof was bowstring construction, not designed to sustain heavy loads.  The seven cars inside the building and sustained damages, and the building itself which was built in 1959 must be demolished.

The Marist College land at the lower left, once a pasture, seems to have been leveled.  The white concrete fence constructed by the Brothers in 1922, or at least the tips of the fence can be seen just behind the evergreens along the road.  Brother Nilus Donnelly wrote that he helped build this wall and ironically was the one who demolished it in 1966.  This leads the writer to guess the date of the photo around the early 1960s, when the Donnelly building was under construction.

Before construction of the New York Thruway in the 1950s, the principal route from New York to Albany and points west was route 9. (Source: Kem Plastic Playing Cards, Inc)

Note

Kem ownership of part of the Winslow Estate
16 Dec 1946 liber 652 page 64  Runk Realty Corp to Kem Plastic Playing Card Co
                     27 acre former Winslow estate west of route nine
1 Feb 1948 liber 682 page 605  Kem Plastic Playing Cards Co to V. J. Costanzi Co                    

Deeds relating to Kem purchase of a building between Bech Place and the railroad
17 May 1912 liber 374 page 278:  Fairview Improvement Company to Alexander Bolognesi of Brooklyn NY
17 Nov 1913 liber 392 page 487: Alexander & Benilde Bolognesi to A. B. Manufacturing Company
29 Mar 1915 liber 378 page 276:  Fred Hornbeck referee for A. B. Manufacturing Company to Mechanics & Metals National Bank of City of New York
2 Apr 1915 liber 393 page 23:  Mechanics & Metals National Bank of City of New York to William L Lyall
25 Sep 1916 liber 395 page 84:  William Lyall to W. L. Battery Company Inc
10 July 1917 liber 399 page 120:  W. L. Battery Company Inc to Permalife Storage Battery Co
8 Apr 1920 liber 410 page 388:  Permalife Storage Battery Co to David Alexander
27 May 1920 liber 410 page 389:  David Alexander, widower, to Baxton Realty Company
1 Oct 1920 liber 412 page 105:  Baxton Realty Company to N Y Enameled Steel Sign Co Inc
15 Dec 1927 liber 481 page 395:   N Y Enameled Steel Sign Co Inc to L.D. Nelke Signs of New York
24 Sep 1935 liber 547 page 369:  Joseph Acher, referee for L.D. Nelke Signs of New York to Poughkeepsie Trust Company
  1 Apr 1942 liber 599 page 196:  Poughkeepsie Trust Company to Western Printing and Lithographing Co of NY
30 Dec 1943 liber 613 page 311:  Western Printing and Lithographing Co of NY to Western Printing and Lithographing Co of Wisconsin
31 Dec 1946 liber 655 page 183:  Western Printing and Lithographing Co of Wisconsin to Kem Plastic Playing Cards Inc.

The deeds above refer to the larger  parcel between Bech Place and the railroad.  the Kem sale to Marist College mentions two other parcels, which were split from what had been a single parcel.  This provided Kem with ownership from the railroad at the east to Bech Place at the west.
9 Dec 1918 liber 404 page 33:  Fairview Improvement Company to Adolph Paul Koerner
12 Aug 1935 liber 557 page 468:  Paul Miller, treasurer of Dutchess County conducted a tax sale on the Koerner holdings which resulted in a sale to Martha Gellrich
1 June 1949 liber 719 page 550:  Martha Gellrich to Charles Chapman Sr.
27 Dec 1951 liber 795 page 544:  Charles Chapman Sr to Edward Dingee  (first section of the Chapman purchase)
16 Feb 1951 liber 795 page 547:   Edward Dingee to Kem Plastic Playing Cards Inc.

13 Nov 1957 liber 961 page 467  Charles Chapman Jr as executor of estate of
         Charles Chapman Sr to Joseph E Prince.  $4500 for (second section of the Chapman purchase)
30 Dec 1957 liber 980 page 432:  Joseph W and Mary Prince to Kem Plastic  Playing Cards Inc.
         tis parcel ws directly north of the Kem holdings

After Kem Plastic Playing Cards relocated to Long Island, the three parcels were sold to Marist College
2004 doc# 12479 KPPC Inc doing business as Kem Plastic Playing Cards Inc to Marist Real Property Services Inc

Original Source: Marist College Land History: Marist Land East of Route Nine

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