Ellis Island

Ellis Island, located in New York Harbor at the mouth of the Hudson River, was at one time the main immigration port for immigrants entering the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The federal immigration station opened on January 1, 1892 and was closed in November 1954 but not before processing more than 20 million immigrants. Of these 20 million, only about two percent were denied admission to the U.S. and sent back to their countries of origin for reasons such as chronic disease. Many who were allowed entry settled in New York and northern New Jersey for at least their first few years in America.

After 1924, Ellis Island was only used for detainees and refugees. Ordinary immigrants were processed through other facilities.

Today, Ellis Island houses a museum, reachable by ferry from Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey and from the southern tip of Manhattan in New York City. The Statue of Liberty, sometimes thought to be on Ellis Island because of its symbolism as a welcome to immigrants, is actually on nearby Liberty Island.

• Ellis Island Passenger Arrivals - Search passenger arrival records
• Ellis Island Immigration Museum - Ellis Island was the gateway through which more than 12 million immigrants passed between 1892 and 1954 in their search for freedom of speech and religion, and for economic opportunity in the United States. Because of its unique historical importance, it was declared part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965. After a six-year, $162 million renovation, it reopened to the public as a museum in 1990.
• Save Ellis Island - To raise the funds necessary to rehabilitate, restore and put to beneficial reuse the currently deteriorated and unused buildings of Ellis Island, located primarily on its south side.
• Ellis Island - Swedish guide to Ellis Island and information about genealogy.
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