There are so many things to do in the city of New York you might be at a loss of where to start once you’ve settled into your hotel room. If you are interested in the history of how America came to be the way it is today, and see the signatures of your ancestors who traveled to America in boats in the early 1890s up until 1954; you will need to go to Ellis Island.

Ellis Island was a gateway for immigrants who came to America by boat from many different locations around the world. Around 12 million immigrants came from Italy, France, England and many other locations and were greeted by the Statue of Liberty in all its glory. Their eyes would light up as the long and dreary travel was coming to an end and they were to discover this new world they had heard so much about. At Ellis Island, the immigrants were medically inspected and given legal access to the United States.

Some of them were forced to change their names to make them sound more “American”. Though you might have to wait for a very long time in order to view it, you just might be able to get a glimpse of the book that was signed by almost every one of those 12 million immigrants. There, in almost the exact location you will be standing, just might be where one of your ancestors stood just after reaching America and starting a new life in this great country for you and your decedents as well.

Ellis Island, in 1965, was added to a part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument and was restored in 1990. The original island was 3.3 acres and made with landfill where the immigration station was built. It is now a museum and is not used for the purposes of immigration but as a historical monument. Offered now at Ellis Island is a gift shop, guided tours, a visitor center and also eating establishments so that you can make an entire day out of seeing where your ancestors first stepped onto the soil they soon called home.

If you do nothing else in New York, however highly unlikely, you must visit Ellis Island. As one of the most important locations in the history of the great migration of the world in the late 19th century to the early 20th century, you won’t find a more enchanting historical monument anywhere else in the United States.