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Photo, Print, Drawing Ellis Island, Baggage & Dormitory Building, New York Harbor, New York County, NY Statue of Liberty National Monument U.S. Immigration Station, Baggage & Dormitory Building

View 49 images in sequence.
[ Photos from Survey HABS NY-6086-E  ]

More Resources

View 10 images in sequence.
[ Drawings from Survey HABS NY-6086-E  ]
[ Data Pages from Survey HABS NY-6086-E  ]
[ Photo Captions from Survey HABS NY-6086-E  ]

About this Item

Title

  • Ellis Island, Baggage & Dormitory Building, New York Harbor, New York County, NY

Other Title

  • Statue of Liberty National Monument U.S. Immigration Station, Baggage & Dormitory Building

Names

  • Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
  • Office of the Architect of the Treasury
  • Taylor, James Knox
  • U.S. Coast Guard
  • Watchorn, Robert
  • Fry, Brooks Alfred
  • U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor
  • U.S. Department of Labor
  • U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
  • U.S. General Services Administration (GSA)
  • U.S. Department of the Interior
  • New York State Construction Company
  • Williams, William
  • Evans, Almirall & Company
  • Lee and Bellmer Company
  • Sargent, Frank P.
  • Western Union Telegraph Company
  • Hudgens & Dumas
  • Howe, Frederic C.
  • U.S. Department of the Navy
  • Curran, Henry C.
  • Perkins, Frances
  • Corsi, Edward
  • Palmer, Carleton H.
  • Day, Benjamin M.
  • Johnson, Philip
  • Emmons, Michael J., Jr., historian
  • Davidson, Lisa Pfueller, project manager
  • Davidson, Lisa Pfueller, transmitter
  • Boucher, Jack E., photographer
  • Rosenthal, James W., photographer
  • Arzola, Robert R., project manager
  • Davidson, Paul, field team supervisor
  • De Sousa, Daniel, field team supervisor
  • Schara, Mark, field team
  • Autilio, Kathleen, field team
  • Doddington, L. Naomi, field team
  • Martinez, Alberto, field team
  • Reifschneider, Kristen, field team
  • Sloan, Caleb, field team
  • Warren, Emily R., field team
  • Ortiz, Jarob J., photographer
  • Statue of Liberty National Monument, sponsor
  • McPartland, Mary, transmitter

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 1933

Headings

  • -  immigrants
  • -  dormitories
  • -  luggage
  • -  storage facilities
  • -  detention facilities
  • -  war (World War I)
  • -  war (World War II)
  • -  flat roofs
  • -  quoins
  • -  Beaux-Arts architectural elements
  • -  brick buildings
  • -  steel structural frames
  • -  concrete girders
  • -  enclosed porches
  • -  porticoes (porches)
  • -  skylights
  • -  graffiti
  • -  New York--New York County

Latitude / Longitude

  • 40.699886,-74.039405

Notes

  • -  Significance: The Baggage & Dormitory Building at Ellis Island played an important role in U.S. immigration during the early twentieth century. Built in 1908-09 adjacent to the Main Immigration Building on Island 1, the Baggage & Dormitory Building provided critical space for baggage handling, temporary housing for detained immigrants, railroad ticketing, food service, and offices. Construction began on the facility after the peak immigration year of 1907, when a staggering 1,004,756 immigrants were processed at the island. After the completion of the Baggage & Dormitory Building, its facilities helped process the 500,000 to 900,000 immigrants who arrived annually at Ellis Island, until the outbreak of World War I slowed the influx. The Baggage & Dormitory Building is thus a direct product of one of the most important eras of immigration in United States history, at its primary port of entry. The Baggage & Dormitory Building is also significant due to its use as a detention center for enemy aliens during World War I (1917-20), the First Red Scare (1918-20), and World War II (1941-48). The structure was also used by the U.S. Coast Guard for training and operation space from 1939 to 1946, and again from 1951 to 1954. The building was abandoned when the Ellis Island U.S. Immigration Station ceased operation in 1954. The Baggage & Dormitory Building was designed by the Office of the Architect of the Treasury, under Supervising Architect John Knox Taylor, with important input and review from Robert Watchorn, Commissioner of Immigration at Ellis Island, and Alfred Brooks Fry, the Chief Engineer and Superintendent of Repairs. Compared with the Main Immigration Building, the architectural style of the Baggage & Dormitory Building is more restrained, reflective of its less prominent position, a limited budget, and the need for rapid construction. The Baggage & Dormitory Building features classical symmetry, a flat roof, a raised first story with arched windows and doorways, heavy quoining, and a subtle polychromy accomplished through brick and limestone exterior walls. The structural system of the building includes steel, concrete, and structural terra cotta tile. The building was expanded significantly in 1913-14 when a third story was added to the entire structure, and a large two-story projection was added to the north side.
  • -  Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: Ν2244, Ν2245, Ν2246, Ν2247, Ν2248, Ν2249, Ν2250, Ν2251, Ν2252
  • -  Survey number: HABS NY-6086-E
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1908- 1909 Initial Construction
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1913- 1914 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1935 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1924-1926 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1928 Subsequent Work
  • -  National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 66000058

Medium

  • Photo(s): 44
  • Color Transparencies: 5
  • Measured Drawing(s): 10
  • Data Page(s): 71
  • Photo Caption Page(s): 5

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HABS NY,31-ELLIS,1E-

Source Collection

  • Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • ny1602

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material.

Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information

  • Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
  • Reproduction Number: ---
  • Call Number: HABS NY,31-ELLIS,1E-
  • Access Advisory: ---

Obtaining Copies

If Digital Images Are Displaying

You can download online images yourself. Alternatively, you can purchase copies of various types through Library of Congress Duplication Services.

HABS/HAER/HALS materials have generally been scanned at high resolution that is suitable for most publication purposes (see Digitizing the Collection for further details about the digital images).

  • Photographs--All photographs are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • Make note of the Call Number and Item Number that appear under the photograph in the multiple-image display (e.g., HAER, NY,52-BRIG,4-2).
    • If possible, include a printout of the photograph.
  • Drawings--All drawings are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • Make note of the Survey Number (e.g., HAER NY - 143) and Sheet Number (e.g., "Sheet 1 of 4"), which appear on the edge of the drawing. (NOTE: These numbers are visible in the Tiff "Reference Image" display.)
    • If possible, include a printout of the drawing.
  • Data Pages
    • Make note of the Call Number in the catalog record.

If Digital Images Are Not Displaying

In the rare case that a digital image for HABS/HAER/HALS documentation is not displaying online, select images for reproduction through one of these methods:

  • Visit the Prints & Photographs Reading Room and request to view the group (general information about service in the reading room is available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/info/001_ref.html). It is best to contact reference staff in advance (see: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/address.html) to make sure the material is on site. OR
  • P&P reading room staff can provide up to 15 quick copies of items per calendar year (many original items in the holdings are too old or fragile to make such copies, but generally HABS/HAER/HALS materials are in good enough condition to be placed on photocopy machines). For assistance, see our Ask a Librarian page OR
  • Hire a freelance researcher to do further selection for you (a list of researchers in available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/resource/013_pic.html).
  • You can purchase copies of various types, including quick copies, through Library of Congress Duplication Services (price lists, contact information, and order forms for Library of Congress Duplication Services are available on the Duplication Services Web site):
    • Make note of the Call Number listed above.
    • Look at the Medium field above. If it lists more than one item:
      • The entire group can be ordered as photocopies or high-quality copies.
      • All the items in a particular medium (e.g., all drawings, all photographs) can be ordered as photocopies or high-quality copies.

Access to Originals

Please use the following steps to determine whether you need to fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room to view the original item(s). In some cases, a surrogate (substitute image) is available, often in the form of a digital image, a copy print, or microfilm.

  1. Is the item digitized? (A thumbnail (small) image will be visible on the left.)

    • Yes, the item is digitized. Please use the digital image in preference to requesting the original. All images can be viewed at a large size when you are in any reading room at the Library of Congress. In some cases, only thumbnail (small) images are available when you are outside the Library of Congress because the item is rights restricted or has not been evaluated for rights restrictions.
      As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)
    • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.

  2. Do the Access Advisory or Call Number fields above indicate that a non-digital surrogate exists, such as microfilm or copy prints?

    • Yes, another surrogate exists. Reference staff can direct you to this surrogate.
    • No, another surrogate does not exist. Please go to #3.
  3. If you do not see a thumbnail image or a reference to another surrogate, please fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room. In many cases, the originals can be served in a few minutes. Other materials require appointments for later the same day or in the future. Reference staff can advise you in both how to fill out a call slip and when the item can be served.

To contact Reference staff in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room, please use our Ask A Librarian service or call the reading room between 8:30 and 5:00 at 202-707-6394, and Press 3.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, Office Of The Architect Of The Treasury, James Knox Taylor, U.S. Coast Guard, Robert Watchorn, Brooks Alfred Fry, U.S. Department Of Commerce And Labor, et al., Boucher, Jack E, James W Rosenthal, and Jarob J Ortiz, photographer. Ellis Island, Baggage & Dormitory Building, New York Harbor, New York County, NY. New York County Jersey City New Jersey New York Hudson County, 1933. translateds by Davidson, Lisa Pfuellermitter, and Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/ny1602/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, C., Office Of The Architect Of The Treasury, Taylor, J. K., U.S. Coast Guard, Watchorn, R., Fry, B. A. [...] Statue Of Liberty National Monument, S., Boucher, J. E., Rosenthal, J. W. & Ortiz, J. J., photographer. (1933) Ellis Island, Baggage & Dormitory Building, New York Harbor, New York County, NY. New York County Jersey City New Jersey New York Hudson County, 1933. Davidson, L. P. & McPartland, M., transs Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/ny1602/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, et al., photographers by Boucher, Jack E, James W Rosenthal, and Jarob J Ortiz. Ellis Island, Baggage & Dormitory Building, New York Harbor, New York County, NY. trans by Davidson, Lisa Pfuellermitter, and Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/ny1602/>.