Forest Haven operated as a District-run residential institution in Laurel, Maryland, within Anne Arundel County, along River Road between Washington, D.C., and the Baltimore-Washington region.
The site sat along River Road and covered about 300 acres of land owned by the District of Columbia at 8400 River Road. The facility opened in 1925 as the District Training School and ran for 66 years.
It functioned as the main institutional placement for residents of Washington, D.C., with intellectual and developmental disabilities, drawing its population from all eight wards…