The Abandoned Ellis Island Hospital In New Jersey Is One Of The Eeriest Places In America
By Kim Magaraci|Published August 29, 2022
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Kim Magaraci
Author
Kim Magaraci graduated Rutgers University with a degree in Geography and has spent the last seven years as a freelance travel writer. Contact: kmagaraci@onlyinyourstate.com
Perhaps the most iconic building in New Jersey is the main processing center on Ellis Island. Millions and millions of immigrants made their way to their new lives through these walls, and the entire island is part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. While most people tour the main complex when they visit the Statue, in recent years, the abandoned hospital has begun to allow limited tours. Walking through the halls of the hospital is one of the eeriest experiences you can have in New Jersey.
Ellis Island welcomed almost 12 million immigrants to New York and New Jersey from the late 1800s through its final days as a port of entry in 1954.
With the ability to process 5,000 immigration applications upon arrival each day, the entire island was a massive complex that inspected, detained, interviewed, and deported immigrants arriving in the Harbor.
The officers working and living here decided the fates of millions of soon-to-be Americans.
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While the main buildings and many of the structures have been open to the public as part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument for decades, the hospital on the south side of the island was abandoned in 1954, and it had been left to decay for decades.
It wasn't until recently that the abandoned, dilapidated Ellis Island Hospital became part of a restoration project, and now it is open for limited "hard hat tours" to the public.
The Save Ellis Island Foundation has taken on the project of rehabilitating the historic hospital, and in doing so, they have opened up one of the eeriest places in the country for curious minds to see.
The main ward is empty now, but if you listen carefully, you can almost hear the echoes of voices that filled the room when it held hundreds of sick, travel-worn immigrants.
The hospital first opened in 1902, and in the years up until 1954, over 275,000 patients were treated here. 4,000 of them died - and their dream of making their lives in the New World was cut short.
Many of the hospital windows offer a view of the Statue of Liberty, shining her light and giving hope to those treated by the medical teams at the Ellis Island hospital.
The special, limited Hard Hat Tours held by the Save Ellis Island show off the various wards and quarters within the hospital complex.
Though much of the work done here was noble, it's an eerie spot where you can almost feel the balance of hope and dread that filled the air way back when.
