Ellis Island Timeline of Events

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Ellis Island

Ellis Island in New York Harbor was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States. It was the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. The island was greatly expanded with landfill between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the site of Fort Gibson and later a naval magazine...

Timeline of Events

1891

12.31.1891

A new immigration depot is opened on Ellis Island, New York.

1892

1.1.1892

Ellis Island opens to begin processing immigrants into the United States.

1907

4.17.1907

The Ellis Island immigration center processes 11,747 people, more than on any other day.

1998

5.26.1998

The Supreme Court of the United States rules that Ellis Island, the historic gateway for millions of immigrants, is mainly in the state of New Jersey, not New York.