Ellis Island: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Statue of Liberty National Monument - Ellis Island National Monument

NPS Northeast Regional Office

Ellis Island, a part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument, is located in New York Harbor’s Upper Bay on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. The island lies approximately one and one-half miles southwest of Manhattan Island, three-quarters of a mile north of Liberty Island, and a quarter mile east of Liberty State Park. Ellis Island is the preeminent example of a government immigration and public health operation, the busiest and largest of its time. The “island of hope, island of tears” now symbolizes the American story of immigration, the cultural richness of the United States, the contribution of immigrants to U.S. society. Ellis Island became a part of the national park system in 1965. Originally only 3.5 acres in size, today Ellis Island covers nearly 27.5 acres as a result of numerous landfill operations between 1830 and 1935. This pattern of development created a landscape divided into three distinct parcels that are identified by the names Island One, Island Two, and Island Three. Island One is the northernmost area and was the location of the original island. It contains the primary immigration facilities, including the renovated main immigration building that houses the National Museum of Immigration, exhibit space, research libraries, and a café. Other rehabilitated buildings are used for administrative and maintenance functions by the National Park Service and by its partners, concessioners, and contractors. The massive baggage and dormitory building is stabilized but closed to the public. Islands Two and Three are constructed entirely of landfill and contain hospital facilities formerly occupied by the U.S. Public Health Service and the U.S. Coast Guard. Some areas of Island One and all of Islands Two and Three have been virtually unused and unmaintained since the immigration station closed in 1954. However, through multiyear preservation effort, buildings on Islands Two and Three have been stabilized. Like the immigrants before, today’s island visitors arrive by boats that dock at the basin separating Islands One and Two. Alongside the ferry basin are bench-lined sidewalks shaded with mature London planetrees set in maintained lawns, which front the elegant French Renaissance-style main immigration building. Behind this building are the stainless-steel panels of the American Immigrant Wall of Honor and the excavated ruins of the 1794 Fort Gibson. Island One offers panoramic views of the harbor and surrounding mainland, as well as a framed views of the masonry and wood buildings and treed lawns of Islands Two and Three, which remain closed to the public.

Ellis Island: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Statue of Liberty National Monument - Ellis Island National Monument

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