1954 Ellis Island closes (opened 1892)
Ellis Island, at the mouth of the Hudson River in New York Harbor, was at one time the main immigration port for immigrants entering the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Ellis Island is within the boundaries of Jersey City, New Jersey, but is within both the states of New Jersey and New York. It is wholly in the possession of the Federal government as a part of Statue of Liberty National Monument, and is under the jurisdiction of the US National Park Service.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the island, which was largely artificially created through the landfill process, has an official land area of 129,619 square meters, or 32.03 acres, more than 83 percent of which lies in the city of Jersey City.
The natural portion of the island, lying in New York City, is 21,458 square meters (5.302 acres), and is completely surrounded by the artificially created New Jersey portion.
The Ellis Island Immigrant Station was designed by architects Edward Lippincott Tilton and William Boring. They received a gold medal at the 1900 Paris Exposition for the buildings' design. They were later hired to design and construct the magnificent Tome School for Boys in Port Deposit Maryland.
Ellis Island takes its name from Samuel Ellis, a colonial New Yorker from Wales who owned the island during the late 1700s and kept a tavern, serving sailors and local fishermen. Samuel Ellis was a local farmer and merchant.