This Abandoned East Coast Island With A Once-Thriving Hospital Is Now A Historic Site And Museum With Private Tours

With its symbolic presence and towering silhouette, the Statue of Liberty earns its place at the top of many an iconic New York attraction list. But while tourists often make the climb up to Lady Liberty's Crown for heady views of the harbor, a nearby East Coast island, abandoned after 62 years of service, is a place that commands a journey of its own. We're talking about Ellis Island, which was the gateway for immigrants seeking entry into America. Between 1892 and 1954, about 12 million people passed through Ellis Island before entering the United States.

For many, Ellis Island was indeed the golden door to a new life, leaving an outstanding legacy: the National Parks of New York Harbor estimates that "approximately [40%] of America's population can trace their ancestry through Ellis Island." But mass immigration of these proportions involved an in-depth triage, where health, legal capacity, and societal profiles were deciding factors for passage into America. Tuberculosis, measles, pneumonia, trachoma, or mental disorders were some of the conditions that raised red flags — resulting in a period of treatment at the now-abandoned Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital. 

According to Save Ellis Island director Jim Dessicino, the area was a thriving complex composed of 35 hospital buildings in total, with 29 of them on the New Jersey side of the island. The hospital wards were used by approximately 1.2 million immigrants. They also served as quarters for the nurses who stayed full-time on the island, administrative buildings, kitchens, and a psychiatric unit, among others. Because of dwindling immigration, policy changes, and declining detainee numbers after World War II, the hospital closed in 1951 — the rest of the island would shut down three years later. Today, the former hospital is a unique historic site that offers a glimpse into America's immigrant past.

Today, people are making their way once again to Ellis Island, not as immigrants but as visitors paying tribute to the island's unique role in American history. The Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration is undergoing yet another renaissance since it opened in 1990. Visitors flock to see its remarkable collection and gaze upon the American Immigrant Wall of Honor, both of which highlight the immigrant journey. Meanwhile, the original Immigration Station building is getting a slew of modern features, including touchscreens, soundscapes, public research stations, and self-guided tours.

If you're into once-thriving, now-abandoned destinations, a Hard Hat Tour will be up your alley. After six decades of neglect, guided tours through 22 of the 29 buildings of Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital have been made possible through Save Ellis Island, an organization dedicated to the rehabilitation of the historic medical complex. Visitors get a walk-through of the hospital's laundry room, the patient wards, and the kitchen — hard hat obligatory, naturally. "What we're working towards is increasing visibility because we have 3.8 million visitors a year to the Statue of Liberty. Over a million and a half of them go to Ellis Island. Only 30,000 of them come to the south side of Ellis Island," says director Jim Dessicino. 

Raring to go? Round-trip ferry tickets to Ellis Island are purchased through authorized vendor Statue City Cruises — the ferry ticket includes free entry to the museums on Liberty Island and Ellis Island. Hard Hat Tour tickets are sold separately via the Save Ellis Island website. If you're looking to explore more of New York after your island tour, consider booking a room at some of the most affordable hotels near Times Square, including Radio City Apartments and JG Time Hotel.