Oyster Island
| Ellis Island | |
|---|---|
 Aerial image of Ellis Island (pre 1976)
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| Location | Upper New York Bay |
| Coordinates | 40°41′58″N 74°02′30″W / 40.699398°N 74.041723°WCoordinates: 40°41′58″N 74°02′30″W / 40.699398°N 74.041723°W |
| Area | 27.5 acres (11.1 ha) |
| Elevation | 7 ft (2.1 m) |
| Built | 1900 (Main Building) |
| Architect |
William Alciphron Boring Edward Lippincott Tilton |
| Architectural style(s) | Renaissance Revival |
| Governing body | National Park Service |
| Website | Ellis Island |
| Official name: Statue of Liberty National Monument | |
| Designated | added October 15, 1965 |
| Official name: Statue of Liberty National Monument, Ellis Island and Liberty Island | |
| Designated | October 15, 1966 |
| Reference no. | 66000058 |
| Designated | May 27, 1971 |
| Reference no. | 1535 |
| Type | District/Individual Interior |
| Designated | November 16, 1993 |
Ellis Island, in Upper New York Bay, was the gateway for over 12 million immigrants to the U.S. as the United States' busiest immigrant inspection station for over 60 years from 1892 until 1954. The island was greatly expanded with land reclamation between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the site of Fort Gibson and later a naval magazine. The island was made part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965 and has hosted a museum of immigration since 1990.
It was long considered part of New York, but a 1998 United States Supreme Court decision found that most of the island is in New Jersey. The south side of the island, home to the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital, is closed to the general public and the object of restoration efforts spearheaded by Save Ellis Island.
Ellis Island is in Upper New York Bay, east of Liberty State Park and north of Liberty Island, in Jersey City, New Jersey, with a small section that is part of New York City. Largely created through land reclamation, the island has a land area of 27.5 acres (11.1 ha), most of which is part of New Jersey. The 2.74-acre (1.11 ha) natural island and contiguous areas comprise the 3.3 acres (1.3 ha) that are part of New York.
The island has been owned and administered by the federal government of the United States since 1808 and operated by the National Park Service since 1965.
Since the September 11 attacks in 2001, the island is guarded by patrols of the United States Park Police Marine Patrol Unit. Public access is by ferry from either Communipaw Terminal in Liberty State Park or from the Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan. The ferry operator, Hornblower Cruises and Events, also provides service to the nearby Statue of Liberty. A bridge built for transporting materials and personnel during restoration projects connects Ellis Island with Liberty State Park but is not open to the public. The city of New York and the private ferry operator at the time opposed proposals to use it or replace it with a pedestrian bridge.
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Wikipedia