New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1920

What is in This Collection?

The collection consists of passenger lists of vessels arriving in New York City (Castle Garden) from 1820 through 1891 consisting of 580 microfilm rolls from NARA microfilm publication M237: Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897 part of Record Group 36 Records of the U.S. Customs Service. For arrival years 1892 through 1897 microfilm rolls 581 through 675 see New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924

The content of earlier lists, known generally as “customs manifests,” was not regulated. Formats varied widely and a specific place of origin was not always listed. In 1883, the federal government mandated the creation of ship manifests, which included columns for an exact birthplace or last residence. This information was also kept on passenger arrival lists of later periods.

The see also a card index to passengers arriving in New York City from 1820 through 1846 from NARA microfilm publication M261 Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, 1820 -1846 also from Record Group 36. For searchable index see York, New York, Index to Passenger Lists, 1820-1846 See also NARA Passenger Arrival Records

Related National Archives Collections

• Supplemental Manifests of Alien Passengers and Crew Members Who Arrived on Vessels at New York, New York, Who Were Inspected for Admission, and Related Index, 1887–1952 NARA Publication A3461 NAID 3887372

General Information About These Records

Passenger arrival lists known as customs manifests date back to 1820. However, the first official emigration station for New York was Castle Garden, located at the tip of lower Manhattan. Congressional action in 1891 resulted in federal immigration officials recording the immigrants’ arrival. After January 1892, passengers arriving in New York debarked at Ellis Island, located east of Manhattan in the New York Harbor. From 1892 to 1924, almost all immigrants entered the United States through the port of New York.

The passenger arrival list was used by legal inspectors to cross-examine each immigrant during a legal inspection prior to the person being allowed to live in America. Only two percent of the prospective immigrants were denied entry. The information was supplied by the immigrant or a traveling companion (usually a family member). Incorrect information was occasionally given, or mistakes may have been made when the clerk guessed at the spelling of foreign names. The lists consist of large sheets of paper divided into columns and rows. Earlier lists are handwritten, while most after 1917 are typewritten. Lists after 1906 usually occupy two pages.

Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

To Browse This Collection

What Can These Records Tell Me?

The following information may be found in these records:
Card index

Passenger lists

Collection Content

Sample Images

• 

  1840 Index to Passenger Lists

Inventory

For a list of all the titles included in this Historical Records publication see New York Passenger Lists - Inventory