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Arrival
Anyone who emigrated to America usually arrived at a harbour on the East Coast. At first, the most important processing station for emigrants was Castle Garden, set up on the southern tip of Manhattan Island in 1855. By 1890 a total of 8.2 million immigrants had arrived there from all over the world. They were processed, inspected and registered, and often hired as labourers or soldiers.

From 1892 onwards Ellis Island, an island off New York, became the most important gateway to the United States. When Ellis Island was closed in 1954, 17 million people - around 90 percent of all US immigrants of those years - had passed through its famous hall. The building complex was turned into a museum in 1990.

Other harbours and immigrant processing stations such as Baltimore, New Orleans or San Francisco were of less significance.

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