River Crest Sanitarium

River Crest Sanitarium
Marketing post card issued by the hospital
Geography
Location	Astoria,_Queens, New York, United States
Coordinates	40°46′45″N73°54′48″W / 40.77917°N 73.91333°W / 40.77917; -73.91333
Organization
Care system	NY State Licensed
Funding	NY State
Type	Specialist
Services
Beds	500
Speciality	Disorders of the nervous system
Helipad	No
History
Opened	1896
Closed	1961
Demolished	1962
Links
Lists	Hospitals 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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  rear image
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  postcard image
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  postcard image
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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 .
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.