Haunted Ellis Island

Island of Tears in the Past, Island of Ghosts in Recent and Present

Oct 9, 2007

This US immigration processing center for 62 years was the scene of many tragedies. Its Great Hall is a place where voices of the dead and other sounds are heard.

Prior to the Dutch naming this land Oyster Island because of plentiful oyster beds, the Mohegans called it "Kioshk," Gull Island. It was renamed Gibbet Island after Anderson the Pirate was hanged. In 1785, Samuel Ellis bought the land and renamed it for himself.

The US Army built Fort Gibson after the federal government bought the land. Later, the US Navy used Ellis Island as an ammunitions depot. Complaints led to closing the facility. Castle Garden, then the immigrant processing center in lower Manhattan, couldn’t handle the influx of immigrants. A decision was made to increase Ellis Island’s size and build an immigration depot with support structures. The new facility opened in 1892.

In addition to the processing station, there were dormitories, kitchens, an electrical plant, crematorium, morgue, baggage station, bath house and two hospitals, one for the physically ill; the other for those with psychiatric disorders.

From 1892 until 1954, when Ellis Island was finally closed because processing demands had decreased, over 12 million immigrants entered the US through its doors. Although not immigrants, enemy merchant marine seamen were detained and housed there during WW II.

In 1965, President Johnson made the island part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. In September 1990, the Registry or Great Hall opened as the Ellis Island Immigration Museum.

Immigrants came to America believing in its promise of a better life. For many of those who traveled in steerage, the “welcome” was ruined by family separations due to entry denials. Spouses were torn apart. Children were separated from parents and extended families, from each other. Approximately 3,000 people killed themselves while on the island.

Entry standards were higher for steerage than for first- and second-class passengers. Procedures were more vigorous. Doctors briefly examined these immigrants, who could be denied entry for non-contagious conditions such as anemia, varicose veins and goiters. After a physical was passed, a legal inspection was conducted by cross examination from information on the ship’s manifest list. There were many questions, some of which appear ludicrous, such as were the immigrants crippled or deformed.

Ghostly Phenomena

Dean Garrett, former chief ranger, didn’t believe ghosts existed until he was on Ellis Island. He heard children’s voices when he was in the former hospital. Garrett thought these may have come from nearby docks, but no one was on them. He noticed the voices seemed to be emanating from the Great Hall. It was empty. He has heard footsteps, doors opening and people talking when searches revealed no human presence.

Technician Martha Blitzer heard voices and smelled burning candles coming from the Great Hall. The room was empty. She has heard children crying for their mothers when no human ones were present.

A newspaper reporter heard the mournful cries of frightened children when none were in the building.

Youth Conservation Corps worker George DuRan was walking through a corridor beneath the Great Hall when he heard feet moving awkwardly and sounds of furniture being moved. He went to check the room. When he was near the top of the stairway, the noises stopped. No humans or furniture were in the room. Later, he obtained validation that no workers were in the Great Hall at the time. They were downstairs when he heard the sounds.

Ranger Brian Smith summed up the phenomena when he said people can feel history and tragedy on the island and those who have been in the Great Hall felt like they were in a haunted house.

The copyright of the article Haunted Ellis Island in Ghosts & Hauntings is owned by Jill Stefko . Permission to republish Haunted Ellis Island in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.