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State Emigrant Refuge and Hospital
The State Emigrant Refuge and Hospital was a New York State immigration complex located on Wards Island in New York City. Established in 1847, it primarily consisted of a public shelter and a hospital, later known as the Verplanck State Emigrant Hospital, both of which served recent immigrant arrivals to the Port of New York.[1] The complex was operated under the authority of the New York State Board of Commissioners of Emigration as part of a network of state-run immigration facilities, which included the State Emigrant Landing Depot at Castle Garden in Lower Manhattan. Recent immigrants to New York were entitled to services at the State Emigrant Refuge and Hospital for up to five years after their arrival.[2][3]
In the 1850s, the State Emigrant Refuge and Hospital was the largest hospital complex in the world.[3][4][5] It operated through the late nineteenth century, during a period of increased immigration to New York. The buildings of the complex were later taken over by the Manhattan State Hospital, and have since been demolished.[4][6][7] The State Emigrant Refuge and Hospital should not be confused with the New York House of Refuge, a distinct institution that was located on Randalls Island.
- ^ Kapp, Friedrich (1870). Immigration and the Commissioners of Emigration of the state of New York. New York: The Nation Press. pp. 125–141. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
- ^ American Social Science Association (1871). Handbook for Immigrants to the United States (PDF). New York: Hurd and Houghton. p. 65. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
- ^ a b Burrows, Edwin G.; Wallace, Mike (1999). Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 738.
- ^ a b "Wards Island Park". NYC Parks. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
- ^ Berdy, Judith. "Ward's and Randall's Islands". Roosevelt Island Historical Society. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
- ^ Greenhouse Consultants, Inc. "Archaeological Investigation of the Chilled Water Line, Manhattan Psychiatric Center, Wards Island, New York". May 1994.
- ^ Joseph Schuldenrein, ed. "Final Report: Phase 1B Archeological Investigation for the Randall's Island Sports Field Development Project" Geoarcheology Research Associates. August 2, 2012.
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