Ellis Island Opens

On January 1, 1892, a brand-new immigration station opened on a small island in New York Harbor called Ellis Island.

The very first person to walk through the doors was a 17-year-old Irish girl named Annie Moore, who had sailed across the ocean with her two little brothers.

After Annie, more and more ships arrived — from Italy, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and dozens of other countries.

Doctors and inspectors welcomed each family, checked that they were healthy, and helped them take their first steps into America.

Over the next 62 years, about 12 million people started their new American lives at Ellis Island — many people in the U.S. today have a great-great-grandparent who came through those doors.