Burning and rebuilding of Ellis Island.

Burning and rebuilding of Ellis Island.

On June 15, 1897 five years after the official opening of Ellis Island Immigration station, a fire broke out burning the originally wooden infrastructure of the island completely to the ground. Fortunately no one was killed in the fire, however years of important records were lost in the fire as the Federal and State immigration process were being recorded on paper. By December 17, 1900 newly built fire proof buildings were opened to accommodate new immigrants and on that day over 2000 people were accepted in the US. In addition to the new main office in 1909 a new hospital was completed with 725 bed accommodations which consisted of a Laboratory, Morgue, powerhouse and housing for the hospital staffs. This hospital was the largest in the United States and over 1 million immigrants were treated there before gaining entry into the US. Another historic mark for Ellis Island it had the largest hospital in the United States.

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