Ellis Island
Within the shadow of the Statue of Liberty lies , the immigration center for the Port of New York, between 1892 and 1954. While Bartholdi's soaring statue was a world famous symbol of liberty and opportunity, the sight of and it's low-lying buildings also encouraged hope in the hearts and minds of the immigrant.
The Native Americans named the small island in the harbor "Kilshk" or Gull Island. Gull Island was more than a three-acre sand bank of mud and clay.
Gull Island's first European owner was the patroon, Mynher Michael Paauw. Earlier the island had been purchased from the Indians by the governor of New Amsterdam on July 12, 1634 for certain cargoes or packages of ...
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and navy hardly ever used the island. Sometimes the Army assigned recruits there.In 1835 the Navy opened a weapon head quarters on the island. The navy continued to store weapons on the island until May 24, 1890 when it moved it's storage place for arms. Shortly after this Ellis Island was turned into an immigration center by the federal government.
The change of Ellis Island into an immigration center took major construction. A channel had to be dug to receive ferry boats, new docks and buildings had to be built.
The main building made of Georgia pine at a cost of $500,000 was opened on January 1, 1892. It was two stories high about 400 feet wide and it looked like a Victorian seaside resort hotel.Baggage rooms filled the ground level. The great inspection hall was upstairs. Nearby on the grounds were hospital buildings, doctors quarters, a bath house, laundry, kitchens, a dining hall, a power plant, and dormitory space.
On June 14, 1897 a fire started on ...
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freedom, and the opportunity to own a house and land. They were also driven by famine and economic hardship.
Greeks, Poles, Russians, Slavs, Armenians, Italians, and many more were all tagged in a different color according to the language they spoke.
The newcomers presented this country with serious problems. They came in great numbers as many as a million a year. A new reception center had to be built to hold the numbers of people who landed in the New York Harbor. For more than 30 years an average of 5,000 people a day passed through the huge central registry room on Ellis Island and more than 23 million between 1880 and 1920.
Many of the people who came were ...
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Ellis Island. (2005, January 25). Retrieved April 19, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Ellis-Island/21168
"Ellis Island." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 25 Jan. 2005. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Ellis-Island/21168>
"Ellis Island." Essayworld.com. January 25, 2005. Accessed April 19, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Ellis-Island/21168.
"Ellis Island." Essayworld.com. January 25, 2005. Accessed April 19, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Ellis-Island/21168.
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