Castle Garden: Where Immigrants Came Before Ellis Island Everyone knows that immigrants came through Ellis Island to settle in America, but where did they go before that? The answer is Castle Garden, now known as the Castle Clinton National Monument, on the southern tip of Manhattan. Originally a fort, Castle Garden was constructed between 1808 and 1811, and at that time wasn’t even connected to the Island of Manhattan. By 1821, the US Army released the fort to New York City, having seen little military action. The city turned the area into an entertainment center with a restaurant and a theater, and according to the Battery Conservancy, “for $5, ticket holders can promenade around the walls, and sip mint juleps, ginseng, and punch liquor.” Sounds great!

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The Dibean's have diligently worked on collecting an index of marriages for Michigan. They are collected from various places and researchers have sent them their marriages over the years. You can enter your Michigan marriages into their database by using the form provided or sending in an e-mail to Jack and Marianne. Remember, their work is an index only and should help you search for the original record

The Missouri Digital Heritage Initiative includes records of enduring historical value from institutions throughout the state of Missouri. These historical resources, including documents, photographs, maps and other materials of interest, are grouped here by general topic. Individual collections are searchable under each topic.

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