About 40 percent of Americans can trace their ancestry to Ellis Island. That's what made the U.S. so prosperous.

On Nov. 12, 1954, Ellis Island officially closed as an immigration station and detention center. More than 12 million immigrants arrived in the United States via Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954.

At the end of the 19th century, Ellis Island immigration station in New York became known as the gateway to America. Between 1892 and 1954, over 12 million immigrants entered the United States through ...

Ellis Island straddles New York and New Jersey and commemorates the immigrant experience. Millions of American stories began at Ellis Island; by some estimates, 40% of people in the country today have ...

As such, it processed the paperwork for all people coming into and leaving the United States, and not just for those who spent ... through the Station at about 300,000. Comparatively, Ellis Island ...