From 1892 to 1954 Ellis Island, a small island in New York Bay, served as the main point of entry for immigrants to the United States. More than 12 million people seeking to become residents of the United States entered the country through Ellis Island. Today some 100 million Americans, more than one third of the U.S. population, have an ancestor who passed through Ellis Island.

Immigrant inspection

When immigrants arrived by boat at the Hudson River piers in New York City, they boarded ferries that took them to Ellis Island. The immigration center there received thousands of people every day. On a single record day in 1907, 11,747 immigrants passed through the island.

Each of the hopeful immigrants faced an inspection, which took several hours. The immigrants formed a long line that stretched from the Ellis Island docks up to the second floor of the Main Building. In the Registry Room, also known as the Great Hall, doctors and inspectors decided who could stay in the United States. Most people were accepted, but the very ill or disabled were turned away. One of the main reasons for rejection was trachoma, a contagious eye infection that could cause blindness.

After the inspection, some immigrants were detained, or held, in rooms called dormitories. Women who had passed inspection had to wait until a male relative arrived or sent a train ticket. Sick people who were accepted were held until they felt better. Rejected immigrants waited for a ship to take them back to their homeland. Detained immigrants could remain at Ellis Island for several days or several weeks.

Immigrants who were cleared for entry into the United States boarded ferries from Ellis Island to take them to New Jersey or Manhattan. From there, they could take railroads to other destinations.

History

Until the 1960s most European immigrants to the United States came by boat and arrived in New York City. From 1855 to 1890 immigrants entered the country at Castle Garden at the southern tip of Manhattan. In 1890 the U.S. government selected Ellis Island as the site of a new immigration center. A temporary site served as the immigration point until the Ellis Island center opened in 1892. The government had previously used the island as a fort and an arsenal.

The original wooden immigration buildings on Ellis Island burned in a fire in 1897. They were replaced by brick and limestone buildings.

After World War I ended in 1918, many people in the United States were left with a feeling of distrust toward foreigners. They wanted to keep immigrants from coming to the United States. In 1924 Congress passed the Immigration Act. That law limited the number of immigrants who could enter the United States each year, which caused a great decline in immigration. The law also permitted immigrants to receive medical inspections before they left their own country. That change made a trip to Ellis Island unnecessary.

In the 1940s, during World War II and after, the government used Ellis Island as a jail to hold suspected enemy aliens (noncitizens). However, the island had become very costly to operate. The old immigration center closed permanently in 1954. For ten years Ellis Island stood empty, and the buildings began to fall apart.

Ellis Island became part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965. In the 1980s the government decided to restore the island's buildings. After a six-year renovation, Ellis Island reopened to the public in 1990. The Main Building is now the site of the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. Almost 2 million visitors come to the island every year. (See also immigration.)