Nov 12, 2015

Ellis Island closed on this day in 1954

"On this day in history , Ellis Island, the gateway to America, shut its doors after processing more than 12 million immigrants since opening in 1892. Today I and an estimated 40 percent of all Americans can trace their roots through Ellis Island, located in New York Harbor off the New Jersey coast.

Immigration to Ellis Island peaked between 1892 and 1924. During the busiest year of operation, 1907, over 1 million people were processed at Ellis Island. During World War I immigration declined and following the war the US passed strict quota laws reducing the number of immigrants allowed. Afterwards Ellis Island served as a detention and deportation center for illegal immigrants and a hospital for wounded soldiers during World War II. In November on this day in 1954, the last detainee, a Norwegian merchant seaman, was released and Ellis Island closed."*


The Statue of Liberty- Ellis Island Foundation has a wonderful website about the history of this historic place that our ancestors traveled through on their way to becoming Americans

click on ▼

- Ranae



*paraphrased from This Day in History, The History Channel, www.history.com*