This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/3FC.2ACI/3876 Message Board Post: In last Saturday's New York Times: The government has been keeping tabs on immigrants since 1820, and Castle Garden at the Battery, originally built to defend New York from foreigners, was the city's first official debarkation point. It was the gateway for immigrants until 1890, when federal officials took over responsibility for the newcomers, who were processed first at the nearby Barge Office and, starting in 1892, on Ellis Island. More than one in six native-born Americans are descendants of the eight million immigrants who entered the United States through Castle Garden in Lower Manhattan beginning 150 years ago next Monday. On Monday, Warrie Price, the founder and president of the conservancy, a nonprofit group formed to rebuild the 23-acre park, will also begin a free Web site for scholarly and genealogical research, CastleGarden.org, which includes a database of more than 10 million of the 12 million immigrants who arrived at the Port of New York from 1820 to 1892. The Web site, an electronic archive and a research center constitute the Battery Conservancy's Center for Castle Garden Immigration. _Posted in Dutch-Colonies-L@rootsweb.com Date: Wed, 03 Aug 2005