Are there records of where immigrants came to before Ellis Island was opened?

Question

If there are how would I find them,like for 1888'

Answer 1

Before Ellis Island there was Castle Garden Immigration station on the tip of Mannhatten.It is a retired Fort across from the statue of Liberty.My Great grandfather arrived as a 10 year old with his Father and Siblings in July 1849.Check "The ships List" on the internet or reference computer at the library.They were required by federal law to have a manifest of passengers starting in 1820.But very few have survived today.We actually walked around it during vacation,an FDR memorial is nearby.Remember that emmigration officials often misspelled hard to pronounce names.

Answer 2

http://www.castlegarden.org/

"CastleGarden.org offers free access to an extraordinary database of information on 10 million immigrants from 1830 through 1892, the year Ellis Island opened. Over 73 million Americans can trace their ancestors to this early immigration period."

Answer 3

Try Christopher Columbus

Answer 4

There are some records, but they are scattered around.

Ancestry.com probably has the largest collection online.   Their collection contains ship passenger lists that go back to the late 1700's, but not EVERY ship that ever arrived in the US is listed.  

Check http://www.cyndislist.com/ for other websites that might have the information.  http://www.cyndislist.com/ is a free website that lists genealogy sites in categories such as "immigration".  Good luck.

Answer 5

They came through Castle Clinton on the southern tip of Manhattan. You can access many of the records through the Castle Garden/Battery Conservancy site. But they have not completed the transcription. So if you know the year, you may have to visit the National Archives Regional Records Center in your area to search through the films on your own. If they were German, you can also check out a published group of records at your local library called "Germans to America". If you want to share the name of the person you're searching for, we can see if the record has been scanned in at Ancestry.com and can forward the imae to you.

Answer 6

Ted correct with the Castle Garden site, but if you cannot find what you are looking for there then try here.

Good luck and good hunting