1892 The first Ellis Island Immigration Station officially opened its doors to receive the "huddled masses," and seven hundred immigrants passed through Ellis Island that first day. Annie Moore, a 15-year-old girl from County Cork, Ireland, was the first person admitted to the new immigration station. On that opening day, she received a greeting from officials and a $10.00 gold piece. The original buildings were lost in a fire, and the buildings that stand today were built in 1897. They are now an historic museum.

Being a genealogist, I work with Ellis Island facts and figures. I'd forgotten that it began in 1892. One thing I remember is that the folks working there spelled atrociously. They wrote peoples' names as they sounded. Many names didn't even resemble what they really were!