NATIONAL PARK SERVICE : CASTLE GARDEN This Castle Garden information page tells us what the new immigrant saw and went through as they arrived in New York Harbor before the Ellis Island facility was set up. Castle Garden opened in 1855 and was used until 1890 - or so.
In the past I had a link to a Castle Garden search page, which I've personally used for my own research. (Ancestors who came on first and second class tickets did not go through Ellis Island.) However, that page no longer exists and has been taken down from my sidebar.
The NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UNITED STATES is planning digitalization of those records: NATIONAL ARCHIVES CASTLE GARDEN COLLECTION
public domain image
Publisher Charles Magnus
In the meantime, you can find records for all classes of passengers on ships coming into New York harbor on genealogy databases under topics such as New York Passenger Lists.
