Castle Garden, Early Immigration, and the Rise of Ellis Island
Ellis Island’s Forgotten Older Brother: Castle Garden
Ellis Island was not a vacuum, and it was not the first immigration center in America. This is shown by this article, which originally appeared in a Sunday Edition of The Sun newspaper on February 23, 1890. Entitled, “Historic Castle Garden,” with the
tagline “soon to be abandoned as a landing place for immigrants,” the article details the history of Castle Garden from its origin as Fort Clinton in 1805 to its contemporary role as an immigrant landing depot as of the publication of the article. In between, Castle Garden served as a popular resort from 1824 to 1853, as well as a theatre and opera house beginning in 1847—the same year “it became known as Castle Garden.” Beginning in May 1855, Castle Garden was “used as a landing depot for immigrants.” The Sun notes, “Up to Jan. 1, 1890, 9,639,635 immigrants had landed at Castle Garden, and scattered themselves over the land.” As The Sun expressed in the article, “There is probably no building now standing in the city which so closely connects the present with the past, or about which cluster so many memories appealing directly to the people, as Castle Garden.” This article not only places Castle Garden in the context of the shift to Ellis Island, but provides a look at how Castle Garden was perceived in its heyday. Castle Garden, with its theaters and relaxed attitude, was very different from its successor Ellis Island.
Castle Garden’s Health Inspections
The Castle Garden Health Inspection, which was more of a formality than anything else
Prior to 1855, immigrants would move to America in whatever port their boat happened to take them. The health screening was an official looking for anyone who was visibly sick, not checking to see if anyone was subtly carrying a disease. The real screening was done by the quarantine doctor on the boats that brought the migrants, who would isolate anyone who was truly sick. Thus, very few people failed the medical examination at Castle Garden. The focus of Castle Garden was to get immigrants documentation, and to keep them out of the hands of ‘runners,’ people who were notorious for stealing the luggages of immigrants and ransoming them back, along with selling train tickets for 3 times the price. Although it did its job, Castle Garden was small, inefficient, and by the 1880s, was in dire need of moving to an upgraded facility. And so, Ellis Island was chosen to be the great hub of immigration.
Who Came to Ellis Island?
As America entered a period of stability, prosperity, and economic growth following the Civil War, her success attracted many migrants. People came from Russia to China, and everywhere in between to take their shot at the American Dream. This map accurately shows the various different countries of origin for the immigrants who came to the US between 1880 and 1920, the height of immigration through Ellis Island. Each yellow line is labeled with a country and its respective number of immigrants who entered the US in the 40-year period. The image was originally donated by Corbis-Bettmann to the National Constitution Center for use in their “Centuries of Citizenship: A Constitutional Timeline.” The majority of these immigrants came to the East Coast, through Ellis Island. This streamlined system was new, as in previous years, immigration was a haphazard and casual affair, as shown by Castle Garden. These migrants, mainly from Eastern and Central Europe, would face immense challenges, discrimination, and an intense trial of medical health to join American society.
Ellis Island: The Fortress of Solitary Confinement
“Immigrant Station, Ellis Island, with ferry docked at adjacent pier.”
Migrants were told tales of wonders of opportunity, freedom, work, and a good life. However, their first impressions were not as nice as these tales. These two images showcase the brutalist and imposing look of the immigration center of Ellis Island. These two pictures were originally taken by Edwin Levick and were collected by William Williams between 1902 and 1913. They are currently part of the “Photographs of Ellis Island, 1902-1913” collection in the New York Public Library’s Digital Collections. The sepia-toned images depict the Immigration Station at Ellis Island from two different angles, both showing the front of the building and the main entrance but with an additional ferry docked in the first image. These two pictures are significant as they show what the station looked like from the outside, a view that arriving immigrants would most likely have seen. Each captures the imposing size of the building that stood between the newly arrived immigrants and their long-awaited destinations in a country filled with promise. These harsh views are very unfamiliar to us, as the island has expanded in the years since, and has become more tourist oriented. Furthermore, Ellis Island has had large portions of land dredged up from the sea bed, and massive renovations for the new orientation of the island-after all, the original migrants did not need a gift shop! Instead of the smooth and streamlined process at Castle Garden, which was more of a casually put together system more than anything else, Ellis Island was home to intense quarantines, detention centers, and other horrors. Gone are the gardens, the theater, and the other nice comforts. Ellis Island is small, with detention centers, and big imposing buildings, ready to filter out those who want to join America.
View of the Immigration Station, Ellis Island (front side)
Previous – Chapter 1: There’s More than Moore Ι Next – Chapter 3: Medical Screening and Doctors at Ellis Island
About the Contributor
Eli Bursztyn wrote the second chapter, delving into the historical context of Ellis Island. Eli is an Environmental Science major, and is minoring in Honors in the Humanities (HTH). He also enjoys biking and building boats.
