+----------------------------------------------------------------------+ Ellis Island Immigration Center Castle Garden Database Locating Ship Passenger Lists +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ A JewishGen InfoFile A BRIEF HISTORY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ellis Island was open only from 1892 to 1924. From 1855 to 1890, immigrants arrived at Castle Garden. Immigrants prior to 1820 simply landed at New York and walked off the ship without immigration formalities. Millions of others arrived in Portland (Maine), Boston, Fall River, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charleston, New Orleans, Galveston, Los Angeles, and Angel Island (San Francisco), plus numerous other ports, as well as overland from Canada and Mexico. Ellis Island, located in New York City, was the entry point for 12 million immigrants. This includes nearly three million Jews who came to America from Eastern Europe between 1880 and the outbreak of World War 1. It was declared part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965. In 1990, after a six-year, $162 million renovation, it was reopened to the public as a museum. Some 40 percent of Americans are said to have a relative who came to America through Ellis Island. When a transatlantic steamer arrived at its dock in New York, the wealthy cabin passengers were free to leave. Steerage passengers, carrying their household goods, were required to board a tug or barge, sent to bring them to the receiving station for immigration processing. LIST OF IMMIGRANT RECEIVING STATIONS FOR THE PORT OF NEW YORK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ o Before 1855: Immigrants were processed on board the ship they had traveled. o Castle Garden: Aug 1, 1855 - Apr 18, 1890. Over 8 million people entered the United States through Castle Garden. Located in Manhattan. Originally a fort built for the War of 1812. Renamed Castle Clinton. Later renamed Castle Garden (1824), it was a restaurant, entertainment center, opera house and theater. ("Garden" was a 19th century term for arenas of all kinds.) From 1896 to 1941 it was the New York City Aquarium. o Barge Office: Apr 19, 1890 - Dec 31, 1891 o Ellis Island: Opened Jan 1, 1892. On June 15, 1897 a fire burned the huge wooden building to the ground. o Barge Office: June 15, 1897 - Dec 16, 1900. A temporary station in Manhattan. o Ellis Island: The present stone and concrete structures opened Dec 17, 1900, with immigrants processed through 1924. For a detailed history see: http://www.nps.gov/stli/serv02.htm#Ellis http://www.nps.gov/cacl/ ELLIS ISLAND TODAY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ o _The Ellis Island Immigration Museum_, where millions of people visit every year to connect with their immigrant heritage, opened in 1990. o _The American Immigrant Wall of Honor_ at Ellis Island, with over 500,000 names, pays tribute to immigrants. For a fee you can have your family name inscribed for posterity, regardless of when they came to America or through which port they entered. For each name registered on the Wall of Honor, you may provide additional biographical information:- City or Province of Origin, Year of entry to United States, Port of Entry to the United States, and Name of Passenger Ship. The new information will be attached to the honoree's record and be available via computer terminal on site at Ellis Island and on the Internet. (Date of availability has not been determined yet.) The information you provide will also be added to the database of family immigration history that is being developed. If you find your family name on a wall plaque... the Ellis Island Foundation has been known to forward letters of inquiry to the contributor. o _The American Family Immigration History Center_ (AFIHC), opened April 17, 2001. Located in the restored Main Building, it contains the data-base records of over 22 million passengers that arrived through the Port of New York between the years 1892 and 1924. Visitors to Ellis Island can research passenger records from ships that brought the immigrants, even see the original manifests, with passengers' names, using the new Ellis Island DataBase (EIDB details below). RESOURCES FOR LOCATING SHIP'S PASSENGER LISTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ o The American Family Immigration History Center, Ellis Island DataBase (EIDB) A database compiled from "Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at the Port of New York". It does not cover all surviving Port of NY passenger lists. Ports surrounding New York Harbor including New Jersey are considered part of the Port of New York. Their records are included with the Port of New York records at Ellis Island. From your home computer you can search for your ancestor and then obtain a copy of the official ship's manifest listing your family members. To access the EIDB http://www.ellisisland.org/ or http://stevemorse.org/ To learn search strategies, see the JewishGen InfoFile-- Ellis Island Database FAQ & Tips http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/eidbfaq.html o National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/ Official manifests or ship's passenger lists are available from 1820 through 1945 for most ports of the United States with customshouses. The official lists, together with ships manifests and private recordings are important sources of information for genealogists. Lists may include names of ships, dates of arrival, cites and countries of origin, marital status, relatives in America, destinations and more. Major indices exist for the ports of: Baltimore, 1820-1952 Boston 1848-91, 1902-20 New Orleans 1853-1952 New York City, 1820-46, 1897-1943 Philadelphia 1800-1948 Minor ports, 1820-74 and 1890-1924 o LDS Family History Centers Passenger List Microfilms U.S. National Archives (NARA) microfilms of U.S. Passenger Arrival Manifests, available via LDS Family History Centers http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/PassLists/ o View the "History of Castle Garden and Ellis Island" and its included link to "Helpful Hints for Successful Searching" http://community-2.webtv.net/mpetzolt2/ellisisland/ o Castle Garden Online Database [New Aug. 2005] From 1830 through 1892, new arrivals first stepped ashore at Castle Garden in lower Manhattan. http://www.CastleGarden.org offers free access to an extraordinary database of information on 10 million immigrants from 1830 through 1892, the year Ellis Island opened. More than 73 million Americans can trace their ancestry to immigrants who arrived in New York City prior to that year. o While we focus on immigration from Ellis Island, let's not forget the thousands who immigrated through Canadian ports and then via border crossings from Canada into the United States. The Canadian government did not keep records of people leaving the country; however, in 1895, the United States established border ports along the International Boundary and began recording arrivals from Canada. These Canadian Border lists, called "St. Albans, Vermont, District" are in the custody of U.S. National Archives (NARA). o Colletta, John P. They Came in Ships. 2d ed. Salt Lake City, UT: Ancestry, Inc., 1993. o Locating Ship Passenger Lists, by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG http://www.genealogy.com/8_mgpal.html?Welcome=990683412 o Tepper, Michael. American Passenger Arrival Records. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1988. VISITOR INFORMATION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For visitor information about the Statue Of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island, see The National Park Service site at: http://www.nps.gov/stli/ To find out more about this gateway to the United States, visit the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, or contact: The Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. P.O. Box 5200 New York, New York 10163-5191 (212)883-1986. http://www.ellisisland.org --------------- Rev. 17 Nov 2006 filename: ellis.txt Information edited from published sources. Provider: Bernard I. Kouchel Copyright 2000-2005 JewishGen Inc. http://www.jewishgen.org +----------------------------------------------------------------------+