New York State History

Ellis Island, once the gateway to our country, through which passed 16 million immigrants between 1892 and 1954. It was abandoned in 1954 and in May 1965 was proclaimed as a part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument by President Lyndon Johnson in order to preserve it as an important symbol of America's history.

Governors Island is commanded by the U.S. Coast Guard. With a daily population of 6,000, the island's 208 acres house a training center, harbor patrol facilities; serves as a support base for Coast Guard cutters; and is the headquarters for more than 70 Coast Guard commands throughout seven mid-Atlantic states as well as for the operational coordinator of at-sea rescues off the entire Atlantic seaboard.