Ellis Island

Ellis Island served as a United States immigration station from 1892 to 1954 on a 13.7 acre island made almost entirely of landfill, although the original island measured only 3.3 acres. Before its expansion and use for immigration, the island was known mainly for its oyster beds. In the 19th century, it was part of a harbor fortification system that included Castle Clinton at the Battery in Manhattan, Castle Williams on Governors Island, and Fort Wood on Liberty Island. In 1890, a wood frame immigration processing station was built there, but a fire destroyed it at the turn of the century, and it was replaced by the Main Building. As immigration increased, hospital buildings, dormitories, contagious disease wards, and kitchens were added between 1900 and 1915. Until the 1950s, more than 12 million immigrants passed through this port of entry to begin new lives in the United States. First- and second-class passengers entered without comprehensive inspection, while steerage passengers underwent full medical and legal inspection at the facility. If papers were in order and health was reasonably good, inspection usually lasted about three to five hours. Immigrants could be excluded for contagious disease or if legal inspectors believed they were likely to become a burden on social services, become criminals, or be illegal contract laborers. During World War I, immigration policy began to change, and by the 1920s the facility was used mainly as a detention center. It continued in that role through World War II until closing in 1954. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson made Ellis Island part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. It opened to the public in 1976, underwent a 160 million dollar restoration nearly a decade later, and the Main Building reopened in 1990 as the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. Today, the museum receives almost 2 million visitors each year.

New York, New York · United States