Thinking about exploring your heritage? Many people are looking to learn more about their family history nowadays. Whether they want to find out more about their genealogy or know nothing about their past history of relatives, they’re interested in learning more about these relatives and where they’re from. While DNA and family tree websites are one of the ways they can learn more, many people are choosing to go to Ellis Island to learn more as they’ll have access to more documents and records than what’s available online.

Ellis Island

Ellis Island is situated right where the Atlantic Ocean meets up with the Hudson River. This made the island an ideal place for processing ships and boats coming from other areas of the world. In 1892, a federal immigration building was established on the island. The years 1900 through 1914 was witness to the largest growth of immigrants coming to America. During this time, up to 10,000 immigrants would arrive on the island looking for a better life. All of them were required to provide their information, allowing for records and documents that anyone can access to learn more about their heritage.

Exploring your Heritage

Those who travel to Ellis Island in order to explore their heritage will need to visit the American Family Immigration History Center. The center permits visitors to look at the collection of immigration records that span anywhere between 1820 and 1957.  Recommendations include first preparing for the search, which includes gathering as much information as one possibly can. The basics of information should include their first and last name, the year they arrived, their ethnicity, their approximate age, where they came from, who they traveled with, and their ship or boat information.

While heritage information can be found online, not all documents and records are available using online methods. There are so many documents and records that were made during this time that they are still being processed so they can eventually be made available online. Since the only place to view all of the documents and records made on the thousands of immigrants that came to the United States during this time is Ellis Island, many people are choosing to visit the island in order to receive the most accurate information.

One great tip for exploring one’s heritage includes starting the search by going through arrival records. Starting with these documents allows one to go backwards when wanting more information about their family heritage.

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