Where is Ellis Island?
When immigrants first set foot on Ellis Island, they knew they were stepping onto American soil. But where is Ellis Island? Until recently, a coastal boundary dispute between New York and New Jersey made the answer to that question uncertain. The island was originally only 3 acres, but after the federal government filled the tidal waters around the island to house and process the immigrants, the island grew to 27.5 acres. New Jersey claimed jurisdiction to all filled areas while New York insisted the entire island, no matter what its size, was hers. In 1993, the State of New Jersey petitioned the United States Supreme Court to try the dispute. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) used GIS technology to assist the state’s Attorney General in adjudicating and implementing the Supreme Court’s decision in this case. To determine the actual boundary line, the NJDEP first scanned and then registered historic maps to modern ortho-photography. This paper will detail the ro
Ellis Island is a small island in the harbor of New York City dominated by a large, official, building. For many people, this island, along with this building, was the beginning of their story of being in America. Once the building was the largest immigration-processing center in the United States.
