For decades Ellis Island would be the first thing immigrants to America would see. Its routines would become the stuff of history: the six-second medical inspections, the quickly-Anglicized names. When the island’s Georgia pine wooden structure burned to the ground in 1897, the iconic Main Building, that Great Hall featured in so many portraits and pictures was created. At the peak of immigration, in the early 1900s, close to a million immigrants per year went through the island. Immigrations slowed starting in the 30s, but the bigger change came from an establishment of American embassies around the world. Prospective immigrants could apply through the embassies, eliminating the need for an Ellis island.

On this day, November 12, in 1954, after 62 years of near continual operation, the Ellis Island immigration center shut down; its mission, in processing over 12 million immigrants, a resounding success.

Contrary to popular belief, not all immigrants to the United States were required to go through Ellis Island. The first and second class passengers underwent medical inspections and background checks while on the ship; by the time it dropped anchor, they were ready to depart into New York — reason being that the more affluent were less likely to be diseased or inclined to crime. It was the coach class “steerage” passengers who went through Ellis Island.