Castle Garden NY Immigrant Center became an Aquarium

Everyone has heard of Ellis Island and may have visited the museum where immigrants were processed into the United States. And we talk about when our ancestors came through Ellis Island.

May of our ancestors actually did come through Ellis Island, but many others came into Boston, Philadelphia, Charleston, New Orleans and other points of entry. 

But many who came into New York did not enter through Ellis Island. The Ellis Island processing center only opened up in 1892. Before that time, Castle Garden in lower Manhattan processed immigrants.

This item in the Harvard Courier in April, 1893 discloses what happened to that earlier big part of our history - it became an aquarium in the New York park system.