The
State Emigrant Landing Depot in the Castle Garden
at the Battery, southern tip of Manhattan. Engraving by Roylance & Purcell N.Y.
Source: Immigration and the Commissioners of Emigration of the State of New York
by Friedrich Kapp, 1870.
Castle Garden was a former naval fortification built from 1808 to 1811, originally named West Battery. In June of 1823, it was transferred from the federal government to the city of New York and became an entertainment center. From 1855 to 1890, the structure, served as the Immigration Station. In 1896, it reopened as the New York City Aquarium.
In the picture above, the old structure in the Battery is identified as the Commissioners oe [of] Emigration of the State of New-York ― Emigrant Landing Depot & Offices ― Castle Garden. Among the offices depicted are: the Labor Exchange Arbeiter Bureau (at left) and the Wards Island Department (right).
The Commissioners of Emigration was organized on May 8, 1847, at the Mayor's Office in the City Hall. On June 14 William F. Havemeyer was elected president, but resigned in February, 1848. He was succeeded, on March 1, 1848, by G. C. Yerplanck, who has held that office until after 1870. The Commissioners had their first official quarters in the old Almshouse building, where they remained until January 19, 1854, when the building was destroyed by fire.
