Annie Moore was the first immigrant processed at the main Ellis Island immigration station.
The station opened on January 1, 1892, in New York Harbor. Moore was a seventeen-year-old girl from County Cork, Ireland, who arrived with her two younger brothers aboard the steamship Nevada. She was traveling to join her parents, who were already living in the United States.
A U.S. official presented Moore with a ten-dollar gold coin, a customary ceremonial welcome reported in accounts of the opening day. Nearly 700 immigrants were processed at the station on its first day. Ellis Island remained the principal federal immigration inspection site in New York Harbor for decades.
Ellis Island is frequently described as the entry point for all immigrants, but many arrivals entered through other ports, and the island mainly handled steerage passengers. The original station also burned in 1897, after which later buildings replaced it. The restored complex is now a major museum and historic site.