Ellis Island

Ellis Island, New York - darkometer rating : 2 - An island in the bay that the mouth of the Hudson River forms south of the tip of Manhattan, New York . From 1892 to 1954 the island served as the main arrival point for immigrants to the USA . Over 12 million people were processed here. It was a tough screening process, though, and not everybody made it. Those who didn't were sent back. So while essentially not such an unhappy place, it did have its dark side. The site was turned into a museum in 1990 – and it is excellent! > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations > Photos What there is to see: The Immigration Museum on Ellis Island is superb. It covers all aspects of immigration in the past, with a natural focus on what went on at the site itself, including the not-so-nice aspects … of detention and in some cases rejection. It also covers other dark sides related to immigrants in the USA elsewhere, especially the treatment of immigrants of Japanese descent during the time of the Pacific War with Japan in WWII : basically, Japanese people living in the US in those days were routinely interned in what can be described as a mild variant of concentration camps . It wasn't a particularly nice chapter in US history and nothing to be proud of – yet, it is covered here with astonishing honesty and openness. Personally, I would not have expected this, to be frank. Hats off! The rest of the museum is a bit more celebratory, but still interesting to check out. Temporary exhibitions complement the permanent museum sections. Location: in the Upper New York Bay of the Hudson River estuary, a bit over a mile (1.7km) off the south-western tip of Manhattan, New York , USA – just north of the Statue of Liberty island.