Ellis Island New York is located at the mouth of the Hudson River in New York City, and since proclaimed in 1965 as a national monument, is managed by the National Park Service as part of Statue of Liberty National Monument. Many visitors travel to the State of Liberty and Ellis Island each year to learn more about what each stands for, and to experience for themselves what it feels like to stand upon the same ground that new immigrants to this country stood upon for the first time so many years ago.
The history of Ellis Island New York is a rich one. It is estimated that more than one-quarter of all Americans can trace their roots back to someone in their family who passed through Ellis Island, as more than 12 million European immigrants passed through its portal between 1892 and 1954. Newly-arrived immigrants were screened for health, and some were sent back to their homeland or housed at Ellis Island for a period of time.
Ellis Island facts and tours abound at this important and popular National Historic Monument. Visitors can stop into The Immigration Museum, and learn all about the late 19th-early 20th Century European immigrant experience, along with other significant Ellis Island facts. Museum highlights include the American Immigrant Wall of Honor, the longest wall of names in the world that memorializes more than 600,000 European immigrants who risked so much to come to America. Ranger-led tours of the Immigration Museum are offered, and offer additional insight into the history of Ellis Island and Ellis Island facts. Tours last approximately 45 minutes.
Maps of Ellis Island are available various points throughout the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island complex, and are recommended to enhance any visit. Along with maps of Ellis Island are tour points for both the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, to better direct visitor traffic and make each person’s visit more enjoyable and time-efficient.
The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island are accessible
by ferry from either Battery Park in New York City or
Liberty State Park in New
Jersey. The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island are
accessible every day of the year except Christmas Day,
and park hours are 9-5. Though there is a fee for the
ferry ride, there is no entrance fee to the park.
To this day, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island together stand for so much of what it means to be an American, and what it meant to the European immigrants who first stepped upon American soil. Ellis Island New York will long be a sentimental favorite among New York City attractions.
