Download or read book What Was Ellis Island? written by Patricia Brennan Demuth and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2014-03-13 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From 1892 to 1954, Ellis Island was the gateway to a new life in the United States for millions of immigrants. In later years, the island was deserted, the buildings decaying. Ellis Island was not restored until the 1980s, when Americans from all over the country donated more than $150 million. It opened to the public once again in 1990 as a museum. Learn more about America's history, and perhaps even your own, through the story of one of the most popular landmarks in the country.