New York 4

If you want to go to Ellis Island, go for the first ferry of the day (08.30).  There were no queues the day we went, and as we didn't want to get off the ferry at Liberty Island (it stops there first, so you can visit the Statue), we were the first people of the day on Ellis Island. 

View of the skyline from the ferry.

First stop, coffee and a bun.  We joked about how immigrants of yore would be given a coffee and a bun rather like the one that we had; little did we know that it was actually true!

One of the many little testimonies you can read on the way around the museum.

There is lots of information as you go around the museum, and a few nice little stories of actual Ellis Island workers' forefathers.  I feel personally, that there could have been more information, but maybe that's just me.  Ellis Island is so called because it was sold to the State of New York by Samuel Ellis' heirs.  In 1892, the island was opened as an mmigration point, and the first passenger to land here was a young girl called Annie Moore.  She was 15 years old.  She was presented with a ten dollar gold coin as she arrived.

Bronze statue of Annie Moore.

The Island closed to immigrants in 1954, after having processed nearly 12 million people.

The Great Hall.

Ceiling in the Great Hall.

The Great Hall - detail.

Sometimes, you weren't allowed in to the country straight away, and you had to tell your story to a judge in one of these rooms.  However, 98% of arrivals were given clearance to enter the United States.

Renovation is still going on, as is evident by the following images:

It's obviously going to take a long time to renovate everything, but this place is definitely worth going to, and early in the morning is a great time, as the crowds were building up by the time we came away.
Just time for pictures of the Manhattan Skyline before we left: