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In 1892, the year that Ellis Island opened as an immigration depot, almost 446,000 immigrants arrived at the island’s main building to receive their entry into America. By the time the island’s main building was closed in 1954, as many as twelve million immigrants had passed through its gates. This was the greatest migration the world has ever known, and more than 100 million Americans can trace their roots to an ancestor who made the journey to the island.

Museum Highlights
The museum’s self-guided exhibits chronicle Ellis Island's role in immigration history and include
artifacts, photographs, prints, videos, interactive displays, oral histories, and temporary exhibits.
The American Family Immigration History Center
The American Immigrant Wall of Honor
Ellis Island Living Theater
Award-winning film documentary "Island of Hope, Island of Tears"

The American Immigrant Wall of Honor
A special feature of the Ellis Island museum, the Wall of Honor overlooks the Statue of Liberty and the New York skyline and is the longest wall of names in the world. This unique display pays tribute to America's rich cultural heritage, celebrating American immigration from its earliest beginnings right up to the present day, and contains more than 700,000 names inscribed for posterity by family members and friends.