Castle Garden, New York City, New York

Castle Garden was originally designed as a resort, with a theatre and restaurant, but it became the first official immigration center as a means of dealing with the growing number of immigrants. Ten million immigrants passed through Castle Garden from 1855 to 1890. When the federal government assumed total control over immigration, a temporary location was used until Ellis Island opened in 1892 as the new immigration center. Castle Garden was then transformed into the New York Aquarium.