To make best use of this page, it should be used in conjunction with the Ship-Lists page. That page will allow you to go directly to the roll and frame for any ship arrival.
In 1819 congress passed legislation requiring passenger ships coming from foreign ports to submit lists (manifests) of the arriving passengers. Those manifests have subsequently been placed on microfilm rolls at the National Archives as follows:
1820 to 1850: microfilm series M237, rolls 1 to 94The passengers were processed at various places, depending on the year of arrival.
1851 to 1891: microfilm series M237, rolls 95 to 580
1892 to 1897: microfilm series M237, rolls 581 to 675
1897 to 1924: microfilm series T715, rolls 1 to 3590
up to July 31, 1855: No processing. Passengers simply walked off the ship.Copies of the microfilm rolls exist on several websites. This page provides direct access to the ancestry.com manifests. A subscription to ancestry.com is required to view the ancestry.com manifest images. For direct access to the ellisisland.org manifests use my Ellis Island form. No subscription is required to view the the ellisisland.org manifest images.
August 1, 1855 to April 18, 1890: Castle Garden
April 19, 1890 to December 31, 1891: Barge Office
January 1, 1892 to June 13, 1897: Ellis Island
June 14, 1897 to December 16, 1900: Barge Office (Ellis Island closed due to fire)
December 17, 1900 to December 31 1924: Ellis Island