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Castle Garden, aka Castle Clinton, was the very FIRST immigration processing station in the US, which predated even Ellis Island. Your records may be there! Stationed in New York harbor at the very lower tip of Manhattan Island, Castle Garden sits directly across the water from Ellis Island.
What makes Castle Garden important for Genealogy Research Online is that it processed over 8 million immigrants between the years of 1855 and 1891. Ellis Island took over as the government-run facility from 1892 to 1954 and processed over 12 million people.
In addition to searching Ellis Island records, you must also be sure that your records search includes Castle Garden’s, which, thankfully, both Ancestry and Family Search does for you. Presuming you are searching the correct databases. I will be using the terms CASTLE GARDEN and CASTLE CLINTON somewhat interchangeably throughout this article.
CASTLE GARDEN RECORDS AVAILABILITY
Castle Garden, it’s genealogical moniker, is more commonly known as Castle Clinton to non-genealogy folk. The two names are interchangeable.
What is interesting to note is that this structure has actually had 5 different names since 1626! It started out as Fort Amsterdam, then West Battery, then Fort Clinton, then Castle Clinton, then Castle Garden. Confused yet? Read on to find out why.
CASTLE GARDEN IMMIGRATION HISTORY
Castle Clinton was originally built in in 1808, over 10 years after the Revolutionary War at a time when talks of war with Great Britain were once again resuming. The situation would deteriorate and eventually lead to the War of 1812, colloquially known as the “2nd Revolutionary War” by some.
Actually, from 1808 until 1814, this structure was known as West Battery, as in ‘a fortification of war to protect and command resources in a theater of combat.’ It was formally changed to Castle Clinton in 1815 and then renamed Castle Garden sometime around 1855; although it is still known by both, the latter refers to its use in genealogical circles as it became America’s first immigrant processing station.
The original Castle Clinton site sits near to an original fort which was built sometime around 1626 by the first European inhabitants of New York City, the Dutch. Indeed, the original name of New York was New Amsterdam and the fort was appropriately called Fort Amsterdam!
FUN FACT: without the Dutch connection, the US would never have benefited from the famous Vanderbilts who contributed so much to early America’s industry and economy (Cf. Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt).
Well, Castle Clinton (which was originally called Fort Clinton) was constructed but never saw any action during the War of 1812. So it was with Castle Garden which never lasted as a permanent immigration processing center.
From 1790 until 1820 the process of allowing European immigrants into the United States (the newly-formed United States) was corrupt and unregulated. It wasn’t until 1820 that ships were required to provide ship manifests for all passengers to keep track of and better understand who was entering the country.
Genealogically speaking, that was a blessing for all of us today! Without these records we would not have any way of tracking our ancestors who left behind their homes in Europe and settled in the new world. I am so very thankful for these as a family historian. I’ve found my great-grandparents on one side of my family thanks to these records.
YEARS OF IMMIGRATION PROCESSING (TOTAL PROCESSED)
- CASTLE CLINTON “GARDEN” 1855 -1891 (8 MILLION)
- ELLIS ISLAND 1892 – 1954 (12 MILLION)
THE CASTLE CLINTON MONUMENT
The current Castle Clinton National Monument is situated at the very bottom of Manhattan Island just west of Brooklyn and just across the bay from New Jersey. It sits in New York City’s historic district. See map below.
If you zoom in close you can see that Castle Clinton (aka Garden), the very first immigrant processing center in the US, sits right across the bay from Ellis Island, another man-made island and the famous institution that would eventually replace it.
You actually don’t have to zoom in, I’ve given you another map below!
Given its relatively small size, Castle Clinton was unable to process the volumes of Europeans coming over to the United States during the years of 1855 to 1891. As numbers and demographics increased on an annual basis, a new site had to be chosen to meet increasing demands. Enter historic Ellis Island. These two sites are like sisters looking at each other from across the water.
You will also notice above that Ellis Island sits just north of the Statue of Liberty, which as the symbol of “Lady Liberty” became famous to all weary travelers.
FUN FACT: if your ancestors passed through Castle Garden they may or may not have seen the Statue of Liberty as it wasn’t erected until 1886! Remember, Castle Garden was open between 1855 and 1891.
Below you can see that the Castle Clinton National Monument sits in the historic and financial district of lower Manhattan. Only a few blocks away are Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange, as well as The Federal Reserve. It’s definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area!
COMBINED REPOSITORIES ONLINE
For all intents and purposes, when you search either Ancestry or Family Search’s databases you are actually searching the combined repositories of both Castle Garden and Ellis Island, but it is a nice historical reminder that they are distinct and unique in their own histories. Their genealogical sources are different as well, as different as the people themselves that passed through their gates, many of whom may be your ancestors.
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