CASTLE GARDEN Searchable Database has ended... BUT OTHER DATABASES HAVE THE INFORMATION NEEDED

Before there was Ellis Island there was CASTLE GARDEN and while there was Ellis there was Castle Garden too. Ellis Island was the checking point for steerage only passengers. A better ticket? Castle Garden, the first stop a ship made to let off passengers. Now, a searchable database!

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Just a note Nov 2022.  My understanding is that this web site has ended but the passenger lists are searchable now via FamilySearch and Ancestry TM genealogy databases.

February 2023 ....  Yes,  the site is no longer.

Just a note to remember that there were other ports in operation.

ELLIS ISLAND FREE DATABASE in NEED OF FUNDS

Recently ELLIS ISLAND contacted me to ask for a donation so that the database, which is free on the Internet, can remain a free service.

I remember how thrilled people were to use that database! One day it was up, and for the next week or two it was so jammed up, it was difficult to get in.

It was my understanding that ELLIS ISLAND was begun as a volunteer project and I never imagined that it would become a pay for play database.

Like any good database it helped thousands of people interested in learning about their immigrant ancestors.

However, many people did not find their ancestors on Ellis Island because they did not realize that this database focuses of those who CAME IN STEERAGE. If a person was on a better ticket, then they got off at CASTLE ROCK.

Above is the link to the free database.

U.S. CITIZEN and IMMIGRATION Link here!

Here's a link to a United States government archive you'll find interesting... It's not a free service but let's face it. Government genealogists probably know just where to look saving you a lot of time and the fees are probably equal to a tank of gas to the closest do it yourself archive.