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Photo, Print, Drawing Ellis Island, Contagious Disease Hospital Powerhouse and Laundry Building, New York Harbor, New York County, NY Statue of Liberty National Monument U.S. Immigration Station

[ Photos from Survey HABS NY-6086-X  ]

More Resources

[ Drawings from Survey HABS NY-6086-X  ]
[ Data Pages from Survey HABS NY-6086-X  ]
[ Photo Captions from Survey HABS NY-6086-X  ]

About this Item

Title

  • Ellis Island, Contagious Disease Hospital Powerhouse and Laundry Building, New York Harbor, New York County, NY

Other Title

  • Statue of Liberty National Monument U.S. Immigration Station

Names

  • Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
  • Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury
  • Taylor, James Knox
  • U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor
  • U.S. Department of Labor
  • U.S. Department of Justice
  • U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
  • U.S. General Services Administration (GSA)
  • U.S. National Park Service
  • North-Eastern Construction Company
  • U.S. Department of the Treasury
  • Boring & Tilton
  • New York Public Health Department
  • Williams, William
  • Fry, Alfred Brooks
  • U.S. Bureau of Immigration
  • Howell, J. D.
  • Watchorn, Robert
  • Webster Furnaces
  • Oil City Boiler Works
  • U.S. Department of the Army
  • U.S. Public Health Service (PHS)
  • Anderson, T. Bruce H.
  • Quintine Realty Company
  • H. Z. Altberg
  • Morris Friedlander, Inc.
  • Orange Screen Company
  • Corsi, Edward
  • Lavinder, C. H.
  • Makelony, Albin
  • Statue of Liberty National Monument, sponsor
  • Taylor, Rachel Lanier, historian
  • Davidson, Lisa Pfueller, historian
  • Davidson, Paul, field team supervisor
  • De Sousa, Daniel, field team supervisor
  • Melendez, Ruben, delineator
  • Nieves Viruet, Angelivette, delineator
  • Haley, Kelly, delineator
  • Ortiz, Jarob J., photographer
  • Arzola, Robert R., project manager
  • Lockett, Dana, project manager
  • Rosenthal, James W., photographer
  • McPartland, Mary, transmitter

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 1933

Headings

  • -  powerhouses
  • -  morgues
  • -  boilers
  • -  incinerators
  • -  nurses' residences
  • -  smokestacks
  • -  brick buildings
  • -  terra cotta
  • -  immigrants
  • -  medicine
  • -  laundry
  • -  hospitals
  • -  war (World War I)
  • -  war (World War II)
  • -  prisoners of war
  • -  mortuaries
  • -  New York--New York County

Latitude / Longitude

  • 40.698047,-74.043207

Notes

  • -  Significance: The Powerhouse and Laundry Building was constructed during 1906-1908 as part of the Contagious Disease Hospital complex on Island 3 of the Ellis Island U.S. Immigration Station. Construction of the hospital significantly expanded the facilities run by the United States Public Health and Marine Hospital Service (after 1912, U.S. Public Health Service or USPHS) in conjunction with the Bureau of Immigration at Ellis Island. Ellis Island officials lobbied for the Island 3 Hospital following the New York Public Health Department's announcement that it no longer intended to provide care for immigrants suffering from contagious diseases. With support among local health officials dwindling and concerns about the spread of contagious diseases like favus, measles, scarlet fever, and trachoma enduring, officials sought to expand the medical capabilities available on the island. This expansion, Ellis Island authorities believed, required the additional power, sanitizing, and staff facilities provided by the Island 3 Powerhouse and Laundry Building. The Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury, James Knox Taylor, designed and oversaw construction of the Powerhouse and Laundry Building, working closely with Chief Engineer and Superintendent of the U.S. Public Buildings of New York City, Alfred Brooks Fry. In addition to its power and heat production, laundry, and sanitizing facilities, the Island 3 Powerhouse housed water tanks and heavy pumps for a high pressure firefighting system. It provided dining and kitchen facilities for medical and non-medical employees, and the second floor was divided into separate men's and women's staff quarters. Located at the southwest corner of Ellis Island, the uneven U-shaped building follows the Georgian Revival exterior design of other Island 3 hospital buildings. It has a red tile roof, pebble and dash stucco wall treatment, and red brick and limestone quoins and details. The Powerhouse and Laundry Building is distinguished by the presence of circular, metal sash windows on the upper level of the powerhouse wing and an 87-foot yellow brick chimney stack that rises from an octagonal base on the east side. The Island 3 Powerhouse helped provide heat and electricity to Ellis Island during periods of high-demand in the winters of 1911 and 1912. It may have continued to provide power during peak periods in ensuing years, though this remains unclear in source material. During this time the building continued to house hospital staff and served as a laundry and sanitizing space. Due to changing energy requirements, improvements at the powerhouse on Island 1, and the conversion of the Island 3 Mortuary into a space to house laboratory animals, the engine room of the Powerhouse and Laundry Building was converted into a mortuary and autopsy theater in 1936. In March of 1951 the USPHS vacated the hospital facilities and the U.S. Coast Guard Port Security Unit adopted some of the space on Island 3 for file storage. The Ellis Island U.S. Immigration Station closed on November 12, 1954. The hospital complex has remained largely unoccupied even following its inclusion in the Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965, under the administration of the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service.
  • -  Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: Ν2588, Ν2589, Ν2590, N2591
  • -  Survey number: HABS NY-6086-X
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1906-1908 Initial Construction
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1914 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1924 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: ca. 1936 Subsequent Work
  • -  National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 66000058

Medium

  • Photo(s): 34
  • Measured Drawing(s): 16
  • Data Page(s): 66
  • Photo Caption Page(s): 4

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HABS NY-6086-X

Source Collection

  • Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • ny2383

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-6086-X
  • 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).
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    • 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

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  • 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:
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      • 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 Supervising Architect Of The Treasury, James Knox Taylor, U.S. Department Of Commerce And Labor, U.S. Department Of Labor, U.S. Department Of Justice, U.S. Immigration And Naturalization Service, et al., Ortiz, Jarob J, and James W Rosenthal, photographer. Ellis Island, Contagious Disease Hospital Powerhouse and Laundry Building, New York Harbor, New York County, NY. New York County New Jersey Jersey City New York Hudson County, 1933. translateds by Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/ny2383/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, C., Office Of The Supervising Architect Of The Treasury, Taylor, J. K., U.S. Department Of Commerce And Labor, U.S. Department Of Labor, U.S. Department Of Justice [...] Lockett, D., Ortiz, J. J. & Rosenthal, J. W., photographer. (1933) Ellis Island, Contagious Disease Hospital Powerhouse and Laundry Building, New York Harbor, New York County, NY. New York County New Jersey Jersey City New York Hudson County, 1933. McPartland, M., trans Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/ny2383/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, et al., photographers by Ortiz, Jarob J, and James W Rosenthal. Ellis Island, Contagious Disease Hospital Powerhouse and Laundry Building, New York Harbor, New York County, NY. trans by Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/ny2383/>.