Ellis Island - The Nation's Front Door

Ellis Island - The Nation's Front Door

Photo: Jakub Halun, CC BY 4.0 (cropped)

A stop on Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, a free self-guided tour.

Your ferry docks in front of a grand red-brick building with four copper-domed towers. Between 1892 and 1954, about 12 million immigrants landed on this island hoping to start new lives in America, and today many Americans can trace an ancestor through here.

The very first person processed was Annie Moore, a 17-year-old from Cork, Ireland, who arrived on January 1, 1892, with her two younger brothers to join their parents. That first station was built of wood, and it burned to the ground in 1897. This building opened in its place on December 17, 1900.

Most people who came through here had crossed the ocean in steerage, the cheapest class; first- and second-class passengers were usually inspected on board their ships. Walk in through the same entrance the immigrants used and you are in the Baggage Room, where newcomers set down trunks, baskets and bundles holding everything they owned before climbing the stairs to be inspected.

Getting here: Reboard the ferry at the Liberty Island dock for the short ride to Ellis Island. The main building is straight ahead from the pier.

Did you know?: Most of Ellis Island is legally in New Jersey: a 1998 Supreme Court ruling gave New Jersey the land added by landfill, leaving New York only the small original island.

Photo op: From the pier, frame the main building's arched entrance canopy with its four domed towers above.

Nearby: Restrooms and the Ellis Island Cafe are in the main building.

More on Wikipedia: Ellis Island · Annie Moore

Stops on this tour

  1. Castle Clinton - The Fort Before Ellis Island
  2. Statue City Cruises - Through Security and Aboard
  3. Statue of Liberty Museum - The Torch at Eye Level
  4. Liberty Island Promenade - Walking Around the Star
  5. Statue of Liberty Pedestal - Inside the Base
  6. Ellis Island - The Nation's Front Door
  7. Registry Room - Inside the Great Hall
  8. Stairs of Separation - Three Ways Down
  9. American Immigrant Wall of Honor - Names by the Water
  10. Return Ferry - Lower Manhattan Up Close