Ellis Island is perhaps one of the most well-recognized terms in United States immigration history. Located on land owned by both New York and New Jersey, it is the island where a large bulk of immigrants entered the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Ellis Island opened as a U.S. immigration port of entry in 1892.

Immigrants arriving in Ellis Island were subjected to a brief physical exam and interview. Processing an immigrant took a few hours on average. If an immigrant were denied, it was generally due to a serious health condition or the likelihood that the immigrant would become a public charge. 1907 was the peak year for immigration through Ellis Island. That year, over one million people were processed.

The Ellis Island complex expanded over the years - it included buildings like hospitals, detention facilities, and dining and laundry rooms in addition to the processing building.

Use of Ellis Island for Other Purposes

Following World War I, the United States began to establish embassies in foreign countries throughout the world. With this change, a national from a foreign country could now go to an embassy to complete the paperwork and physical necessary for an immigration application. This change greatly reduced the masses of people who arrived at Ellis Island for such processing. In addition, the Immigration Act of 1924 reduced the annual quota of immigrants allowed into the United States. Starting that year, Ellis Island was no longer used as an arrival point for immigrants and was only used for detainees and refugees.

Ellis Island continued to remain open and it served various purposes for the U.S. government, including detaining enemies during World War II and as a Coast Guard training facility. Ellis Island officially closed as a U.S. immigration point of entry in 1954. At that point, the port had processed approximately 20 million immigrants, with more than 12 million of them being permitted to enter the United States.

Ellis Island as a Museum and Visitor Center

In the years since Ellis Island closed as an active U.S. immigration port, it has been renovated and turned into a museum operated by the U.S. National Park Service. The first tourists were allowed in 1976. Currently, more than two million people visit Ellis Island annually.

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