Ellis Island :: essays research papers fc

Ellis IslandIn the 1600s, Ellis Island was known as Gull Island by the Mohegan tribe and was entirely devil to three acres. During high tide, the island could barely have been seen above the ascension waters. After being discovered for its rich oyster beds in 1628, Dutch settlers renamed it Oyster Island. And then in 1765, which was the hanging of Anderson the Pirate, the island was again renamed the Gibbet Island, afterwards the instrument used to hang him. Fin each(prenominal)y on January 20, 1785, Samuel Ellis purchased the property and gave it his name, which is lull the name of the island today, Ellis IslandAfter passing through a few generations of Elliss descendents, the island was bought by the state of New York, and then sold to the federal government in 1808 for ten thousand dollars. During the years of 1812 to 1814, the united States Army erected Fort Gibson, which was last taken apart by the government in 1861. In 1876, the United States Navy used Ellis Island as a weapons warehouse, storing 260,000 pounds of powder. However, complaints from nearby New jersey residents lead to the removal of the storage area in 1890.The original station, citadel Garden at the Battery in lower Manhattan, could not detention all of the immigrants coming in. To have room for the immigrants, the island grew to 3.3 acres. In the next two years, Ellis was enlarged to fourteen acres in order to hold all of the immigrants and support edifices. By January 1, 1892, Elliss first immigration station, a two storey high structure of Georgia pine, was open ready for businessThe nigh impressive room in the construct was the registry room. It measured cc feet by 100 feet, and had an impressive fifty-six foot arched ceiling. 12 narrow aisles, divided by iron bars, channeled new arrivals to be examined by doctors at the front of the room. The officials who worked at the island, however, were not impressed by the architecture. In fact, they constantly complained of leak y roofs, and other problems within the building.After long and heated up arguments between experts, it was decided that the Superintendent of Construction was extremely inexperienced, and that there was " precipitancy in the handling of public money," on the part of the Treasury department and the Immigration Bureau of Officials. The entire building, excluding the hospitals, had been built shoddily. After news of the problems with the building had been in the media, a lot of people involved with the construction of the building resigned their positions.