More on Ellis Island and Castle Island: 1 August, 1885 - 18 April, 1890 Castle Garden (was on small island - remains of building foundation in Battery Park) operated by New York State and Federal authorities first center for processing immigrants 19 April, 1890 - 31 December, 1891 Barge Office (near the Customs Office in the southeast foot of Manhattan) New York State was accused of politicizing the running of Castle Garden. Joint immigrant processing was canceled. New York State refused the use of Castle Garden to the Federal authorities. 1 January, 1892 - 13 June, 1897 Ellis Island (in harbor south of Manhattan) large wooden structure burned to the ground just before midnight Port of New York records for the period 1855-1890 were lost. No immigration passenger lists were lost in the fire. 14 June, 1897 - 16 December, 1900 Barge Office 17 December, 1900 - 1924 Ellis Island steel brick and stone construction The 1924 Immigration law required visas and prior screening by embassies in foreign countries. Ellis Island was used on and off as a detention and deportation center. Ellis Island was completely abandoned on 29 November, 1954. Castle Garden information (trivia?) Ellis Island information (trivia?) Records Records of genealogical interest for this period are contained in two types of lists: Customs Passenger Lists Immigration Passenger Lists While the National Archives has microfilm of these lists, they are not complete. Some may be missing and some were recreated from other sources. Some estimate that as much as 50% of the lists are missing. Even at that, Record Group 85 (Immigration and Naturalization Service records) takes up 956 cubic feet of space. Professor Joseph P. Giovinca of Sonoma State University in California is quoted by August C. Bolino (in The Ellis Island Source Book) as stating that J. Edgar Hoover ordered the destruction of INS records of people that he decided were Communists. Also of importance are the Indexes Another useful source of information is from Emigration Lists Ships The Morton-Allen Directory of European Passenger Steamship Arrivals lists all of the ships that arrived in American ports during the years covered. Ports covered include: Baltimore 1904-1926 Boston 1904-1926 New York 1890-1930 Philadelphia 1904-1926 Records of ships for some ports of entry are available on microfilm at the US Archives. Of most interest is: Registers of Vessels Arriving at the Port of New York from Foreign Ports, 1789--1919. M1066 (27 rolls) Miscellaneous Museums The Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies 18 S. Seventh Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106-2394 (215) 925-8090 Center for Immigrant Research c/o Balch Institute 18 S. Seventh Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106-2314 (215) 922-3454 University of Texas at San Antonio Institute of Texan Cultures P.O. Box 1226 San Antonio, Texas 78294 (512) 226-7651 Mystic Seaport Museum P.O. Box 6000 75 Greenmanville Avenue Mystic, Connecticut 06355 The South Street Seaport Museum 207 Front Street New York, New York 10038 The Mariners' Museum 100 Museum Drive Newport News, Virginia 23606 Steamship Historical Society of America Collection Langsdale Library University of Baltimore 1420 Maryland Avenue Baltimore, Maryland 21201 The Maritime History Virtual Archives contains many links to other museums and other sources Books Eugene W. Smith - Passenger Ships of the World Past and Present. Boston: George H. Dean,1978 Carl C. Cutler - Queens of Western Ocean: The Story of America's Mail and Passenger Sailing LInes. Annapolis: US Naval Institute,1961 Michael J. Anuta - Ships of Our Ancestors. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1993 Michael Tepper - American Passenger Arrival Records: A Guide to the Records of Immigrants Arriving at American Ports by Sail and Steam, 2nd Edition. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1993 Ocean Liner Memorabilia Standard disclaimer: I'm just reposting potential sources. I have no connection with any of these dealers and no real idea about their services. Maidhof Bros. Ltd Shipware 1891 San Diego Avenue San Diego, California 92110 1-800-SEA-JUNK Ship Shape Collectible Ocean Liner Memories e-mail [email protected] New Steamship Consultants, a dealer of Ocean Liner Memorabilia (Deck Plans, booklets, brochures with photographs, menus, programs, passenger lists, photos, post cards, etc...) has posted to soc.genealogy.jewish offering their catalogs for free. Send e-mail to [email protected] and mention that their posting was seen on soc.genealogy.jewish. References and Links John P. Colletta, PhD - They Came in Ships. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1993 (short, but extremely informative) Raymond S. Wright III - The Genealogist's Handbook. Chicago: American Library Association, 1995 August C. Bolino - The Ellis Island Source Book. Washington DC: Kensington Historical Press, 1985 (This book gives more historical details about the Island and about a typical arrival. It also details the restoration and future plans.) At 09:23 AM 1/23/99 EST, [email protected] wrote: >Sorry for the bad URL everyone!.... > >O'Connor info and clan info: > >http://members.aol.com/waterlilys/Ancestors.html > > >If you check out my O'Connor site there is info on getting in touch with >Bertie O'C, and a site for the O'Connor Don and O'Connor Kerry and lots of >other O'Connor information, including O'Connors on shiplists, O'Connor >books.... > >mary > >