Time Line
1808- Samuel Ellis' heirs sold the island to New York State. The name Ellis Island stuck. Later in the year, the Federal Government bought Ellis Island for $10,000.
1890- The States turned over control of immigration to the Federal Government. The U.S. Congress appropriated $75,000 to build the first Federal immigration station on Ellis Island. Artesian wells were dug, and landfill (from incoming ships' ballast and New York City subway tunnels) doubled the size of Ellis to over six acres. While the new immigration station was under construction, the Barge Office on the Battery on the tip of Manhattan was used for immigration reception. During 1891, there were 405,664 immigrants, or about 80 percent of the national total, that were processed at the Barge Office.
01 Jan 1892- The first Ellis Island Immigration Station was officially opened. The first immigrant to pass through Ellis was a "rosy-cheeked Irish girl," Annie Moore, age 15, from County Cork. She came with her two younger brothers to join their parents in New York City. That first day, three large ships were waiting to land, and 700 immigrants passed through Ellis Island. In the first year, nearly 450,000 immigrants passed through the Island.
17 Dec 1900- The present Main Building opened, an impressive, French Renaissance structure in red brick with limestone trim. It cost some $1.5 million and was designed to process 5,000 immigrants per day. This was scarcely big enough for the surge in immigration in the Pre-World War 1 years. The island was continuously enlarged with landfill, remodeling, additions and new construction.
1907- This was the peak year at Ellis Island with 1,004,756 immigrants received. The all-time daily high was on April 17th of this year when a total of 11,747 immigrants were processed.
1918-19- The U.S. Army and Navy took over most of Ellis Island for use as a way station and treatment of returning sick and wounded American servicemen. During the war, there was a sharp decline in immigration as the numbers of newcomers passing through Ellis Island decreased from 178,416 in 1915, to just 28,867 in 1918.
1921- Post-war immigration quickly revived and 560,971 immigrants passed through Ellis Island in 1921. The first Immigration Quota Law passed the U.S. Congress, adding to the administration problems at Ellis Island. It provided that the number of any European nationality entering in a given year could not exceed three percent of foreign-born persons of that nationality who lived in the U.S. in 1910. Nationality was to be determined by country of birth, and no more than 20 percent of the annual quota of any nationality could be received in any given month. The total number of immigrants admissible under the system was set at nearly 358,000, but numerous classes were exempt.
1924- The Immigration Act of 1924 further restricted immigration, changing the quota basis from the census of 1910 to that of 1890, and reducing the annual quota to some 164,000.
1930s- Funds from the Public Works Administration permitted the landfill addition of recreation grounds on the Manhattan side of the Main Building. Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor added landscaping, new playgrounds and gardens on new landfill between Units 2 and 3. As a result of these efforts, Ellis Island reached its present 27.5 acres
1938-1945- After the U.S. entered the war in December 1941, Ellis Island served primarily as a detention center for alien enemies, those considered to be inadmissible and others. By 1946, approximately 7000 aliens and citizens, with German, Italian, and Japanese people comprising the largest groups, were detained at Ellis Island. The detainees became so numerous that the immigration functions had to be transferred to Manhattan for lack of room. Ellis Island was also used as a hospital for returning wounded servicemen and by the United States Coast Guard, which trained about 60,000 servicemen there.
1976- Ellis Island was opened to the public for visits. Sixty-minute guided tours were limited to the Main Building. Over 50,000 visited the island in 1976.
Timeline credited to: The Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island Foundation, Inc.