Ellis Island (New York, USA)

Ellis Island is the most fascinating place I visited when in New York last year. It stands in the Hudson River close to the Statue of Liberty. As we sailed away from the Statue of Liberty to dock at Ellis Island, Emma Lazarus's poem was in my mind. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, From 1892 until 1954, Ellis island processed over 12 million immigrant steamship passengers! And they really were the poor, they really were the huddled masses! Most of them had travelled steerage ...  Read the complete review

This is perhaps THE museum for non-museum goers. The museum is as much a physical and topographical experience as it is an emotional one. Like the millions of immigrants who passed through this tiny island just across the water from the Statue of Liberty, the visitor will also arrive by boat. This immigration station only operated from 1892 to 1954 and yet millions passed through here, frightened, excited, exhausted and desperate for a new life. This innovative museum has ambitiously tried to capture the emotion of the place not just recall the facts and figures. It really did happen here and this intensity is captured in the dramatic displays 'Peopling of ...  Read the complete review

I'm not a museum person but was determined to learn about the places that I was travelling to on my round the world trip. Due to this I thought that Ellis Island was worth a visit as it is a huge part of American History. So, instead of getting the free ferry to see the statue of liberty, we paid and took the ferry via statue of liberty to Ellis Island. The island has a museum with several exhibitions/sections all about the history from how imigrants got here to how new words came into the language and where they came from. The museum is full of exhibits and so you don't have to read lots of text, you can just stroll around and look at ...  Read the complete review

Any visit to New York would not be complete without a trip to Ellis Island the symbol of the American immigrant heritage. It is one of the most visited sites but it is very spacious and therefor never appears too crowded. Since it opened its doors in 1892 right up to 1954 more than 12 million landed at Ellis Island hoping to be permitted to stay in the promised land. Many had fled poverty, religious persecution or political unrest at home and had journeyed to America in search of freedom.If they were lucky enough to travel either first or second class they were processed on board ship, but third and steerage class were all ferried to Ellis Island. There ...  Read the complete review

To really have any interest in Ellis Island I think you have to have some interest in the history of immigration into america. The museum on Ellis Island was part of the $7.00 ferry trip so it's worth going. However there isn't a great deal to see while inside and is actually pretty bare. There's not a lot of intersting exhibits either.Perhaps I'm being a bit unfair as I didn't give it enough time but you have to go if you're in the area. You still get great views of the New York area and the whole place is refreshingly clean and calming compared to the crazy atmosphere of Manhattan. ...  Read the complete review