The History of Ellis Island
Ellis Island started out as a private island owned by Samuel Ellis, small and sandy, used for a hanging site for pirates, a harbor fort, ammunition depot, and then an immigration station in 1890 after being bought by the government several years before. Before the utilization of Ellis Island, Castle Garden, New York served as the U.S. station of immigration for 45 years. In the 1800’s, the largest mass of human migration in the history of the world occurred as Europe hit a downfall and the people began to desire new lives in America. Castle Garden was unable to handle so many immigrants, so the government ordered to convert Ellis Island into the new United States Station of Immigration in 1892. A 15 year old from Ireland, named Annie Moore and her two brothers were the first immigrants to be processed at Ellis Island.
Unfortunately, in 1897a fire on Ellis Island burnt the station to the ground, forever losing thousands of state and immigration records, but thankfully no one was killed. The U.S. Treasury commanded that Ellis Island be immediately rebuilt and fire-proof. The new building was opened in December of 1900, 2,251 immigrants stood waiting to be processed in that day alone.
Ellis Island processed and allowed for over 8 million immigrants to enter the United States during its operation from 1890 to 1954.
"I remember my grandfather always telling me how he knew he could be rich in America because he saw riches in the architecture of Ellis Island. He felt that if they let the poor in such a gorgeous hall then life in this country was just."
-Rosanne Welch, granddaughter of Giuseppe Italiano, and Italian immigrant in 1904
All the information on this page was accumulated from the following web sites:
http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/Eihist.html
http://brownvboard.org/brwnqurt/04-1/04-1a.htm
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/tour/index.htm
http://www.history.com/minisites/ellisisland/
http://www.oah.org/pubs/magazine/gilded/koman.html