Hard hat tour at the abandoned Hospital at Ellis Island
The hard hat tour at Ellis Island is your chance to see a historical lost place. A guide will take you through the abandoned Immigration Hospital at Ellis Island. I looked forward to seeing this lost place because some of my ancestors immigrated via Ellis Island. And this was their first stop.
- Know before you go
- Photo Spots at the abandoned Immigration Hospital at Ellis Island
- How I photographed inside the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital
- Summary
Know before you go
The History of the Ellis Island Immigration Hospital
The Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital was in use between 1902 and 1954. Before 1902, immigrants arrived at Castle Clinton. Sick immigrants were sent to a separate hospital next to it. As the number of immigrants increased, the US government passed the Immigration Act of 1882. It denied immigration to people who basically were unable to work in the U.S.
So the Ellis Island Immigration Hospital became the first stop for immigrants for examination and health treatment if necessary.
In 1954, the hospital was closed for good and the installation was left to decay.
The Ellis Island Hard Hat Tour
The tour lasts about two hours and will take you through the abandoned south side of the former Immigrant Hospital that has been off limits since its closing. Because the Immigrant Hospital is on Ellis Island and difficult to reach, the building and the interior are still in a relatively good condition, despite the humid climate has taken its toll.
During the tour you’ll walk along endless hallways, see rooms with some old furniture, visit the autopsy room and walk by broken windows and rusty steel doors.
When I visited, the Hard Hat Tour started inside the main building. There was a booth on the right of the main entrance where I bought the tickets and where we met and got our hard hats.
Is the Tour safe?
Yes, the Hard Hat Tour is absolutely safe. You’ll be accompanied by a guide all the time and you’ll stay on the first floor. You’re not allowed to take stairs to the second floor.
Photo Spots at the abandoned Immigration Hospital at Ellis Island
Long Hallways
You’ll experience long corridors with broken windows to the left and right in the abandoned Immigration Hospital. Usually, the guide stops the crowd so that everyone has a chance to take a photo. If not, just follow the crowd as the last person and take a photo in the direction you came from. That helps to avoid people running into your photo.
One of the endless long corridors of the abandoned Immigrant Hospital at Ellis Island
Not so long corridor with stairs
Hospital Rooms
You’ll also see a few hospital rooms like the one in the next photo. Again, be the last one in the crowd and take your photo once the crowd left.
If only that furniture could tell what it has seen
Autopsy Room
The autopsy room was definitely the most eerie room. You’ll see the box, where they kept dead people. To get a good photo of this room, take it from the middle of the stairs at the back of the room.
Autopsy room at the abandoned Immigrant Hospital at Ellis Island
Doors with Stairs behind it
During your tour, you’ll pass by a few half open doors with stairs behind it. This is a great photo spot at the abandoned Immigration Hospital. Please mind, that you don’t have much space here to zoom out with your feet. So you may want to use the ultra-wide lens of your iPhone to capture the door fully. But you may need to fix barrel distortion afterwards. Luckily, there are a number of iPhone apps that help you to fix perspective distortions.
Lots of rusty doors there. Unfortunately, the upper floor is off limits.
Bathrooms
There are some special bathrooms at the abandoned Immigration Hospital, which you’ll see during your hard hat tour. They have mirrors which reflect the Statue of Liberty if photographed from the right angle.
Bathroom with mirror reflecting the Statue of Liberty
How I photographed inside the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital
Lost Places typical don’t have electricity. So expect the light situation to be challenging at the abandoned Immigration Hospital at Ellis Island. To take photos, I recommend to use ProCamera App and one of its dedicated Low Light Modes. If you’ve purchased a ProCamera App subscription, I even encourage you to try the Low Light HDR mode. This is the mode I use to take almost all of these photos.
Note that we were not allowed to use tripods during our tour. So using the Low Light Modes of ProCamera App is a good choice to get good photos.
Summary
The abandoned Immigration Hospital at Ellis Island is a piece of History. If you plan to visit Ellis Island, I do recommend going on the hard hat tour. It’s definitely worth it and your chance to see and experience a lost place legally.
If you are looking for more inspiration for your New York trip, check out my blog post about the most iconic photo spots in New York.
