River Crest Sanitarium

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, a Virginia native who moved to Queens and was elected to the House of Representatives, serving from 1911 to 1913 and 1921 to 1929.

History

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

Notable patients

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