A trip to Ellis Island, New York
Visiting the Ellis Island Immigration Museum on the Hudson River
(Photos/words © urban75, Nov 2005, updated Oct 2006)



The Ellis Island Immigration Museum is situated in New York Harbour, and we took the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island Ferry from Battery Park in lower Manhattan.

Security was tight, with passengers having to go through airport-style checks before being allowed to board the boat.


Getting ready to leave from Pier A.


Looking back at Lower Manhattan.


Passing the The Goldman Sachs Tower, 30 Hudson Street in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Completed as recently as 2004, the tower is the tallest building in the state of New Jersey and was designed by Cesar Pelli, creator of the famous Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur.




Passing the Statue of Liberty, or - to give its proper title - Liberty Enlightening the World (La Liberté Éclairant Le Monde).

A gift from France in 1885, the iconic monument stands at Liberty Island in the mouth of the Hudson River.

Dedicated on October 28, 1886, the copper sculpture was created by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, with Gustave Eiffel - the bloke who designed the Eiffel Tower - engineering the internal structure.


The Statue of Liberty with lower Manhattan in the distance.


Tourists queuing up for the ferry on Liberty Island.




Looking across the Hudson.


Manhattan view, still sorely missing the twin towers.




Zooming in with my new Tamron 28mm-300mm lens!


Arriving at Ellis Island.


Inside the Ellis Island Immigration Museum.

The federal immigration station opened on January 1, 1892 and processed more than 12 million immigrants before finally closing its doors in November 1954.

New arrivals were checked by doctors and officials, sending around two per cent back to their countries of origin for reasons such as chronic contagious disease, criminal background, or insanity.


Notable Ellis Island immigrants include Isaac Asimov, Charles Atlas, Irving Berlin, Frank Capra, Max Factor, Felix Frankfurter, Marcus Garvey, Bob Hope, Al Jolson, Bela Lugosi and Edward G. Robinson.


Inside the Processing hall. After thirty years of abandonment, the main building was restored and opened as a museum on September 10, 1990.




Internal view.
See 360º panorama [240k]



Archive sign inside the museum. Apparently, over 40 percent of America's population can trace their ancestry through Ellis Island.


Views of a lovely late Autumn sunset over Manhattan.








See 360º panorama [240k]


Our ferry arrives to take us back to Battery Park.


Passing the Statue of Liberty.




Manhattan night view.


Looking back to Ellis Island.


Taking pictures from the boat.