River Crest Sanitarium

Hospital in New York, United States
40°46′45″N 73°54′48″W / 40.77917°N 73.91333°W / 40.77917; -73.91333OrganizationCare systemNY State LicensedFundingNY StateTypeSpecialistServicesBeds500SpecialityDisorders of the nervous systemHelipadNoHistoryOpened1896Closed1961Demolished1962LinksListsHospitals in New York State

River Crest Sanitarium was a New York State licensed mental hospital located in Astoria, Queens. River Crest was founded in 1896 by John J. Kindred (1864-1937), a Virginia native who moved to Queens and was elected to the House of Representatives, serving from 1911 to 1913 and 1921 to 1929.[1][2][3]

History

The institution went out of business in 1961. "A high school now occupies the rear of the site,"[4] and a local restaurant is "named after the Sanitarium."[5][6]

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    Brochure Postcard
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    marketing brochure

Notable patients

  • Wilhelm Steinitz – World Chess Champion, 1900[7]
  • Thomas J. Callan – United States Army soldier, 1900[8]
  • Caitlin Thomas – wife of poet Dylan Thomas, after having come to see her dying husband at St Vincent's Hospital, in November 1953

References

  1. ^ Walsh, Kevin (October 22, 2015). "Ditmars Boulevard Queens -- Businesses & Architecture". Brownstoner Magazine.
  2. ^ "River Crest, Astoria, Long Island, New York City: A Private Sanitarium for the Care and Treatment of Mental and Nervous Diseases and Selected Cases of Alcoholic and Drug Habituation ..." N. Y. River Crest Sanitarium, Astoria – via Google Books.
  3. ^ Marshall, David (September 24, 2015). Forgetting Fathers: Untold Stories from an Orphaned Past. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-1-4384-5893-9 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Walsh, Kevin (January 21, 2014). "Remains of a Former Astoria Asylum". Brownstoner Magazine. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  5. ^ From the website of the high school now on the Sanitarium's site: "River Crest Sanitarium".
  6. ^ Astoria's named-after Rivercrest restaurant: "Rivercrest: American Cuisine".
  7. ^ "Chess Player Steinitz Dead". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. August 14, 1900. p. 10 -. Retrieved January 2, 2019 – via Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com Open access icon.
  8. ^ "Escaped from Sanitarium; No Trace of Thomas Callan, Who Disappeared a Week Ago". The New York Times. October 29, 1900. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 11, 2020.