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Ellis Island officially opened as an immigration station on January 1, 1892. Seventeen-year-old Annie Moore, from County Cork, Ireland was the first immigrant to be processed at the new federal immigration depot.
When the immigration facility at Ellis Island was first built, it was made of wood. It became the primary stop to process immigrants beginning on Jan. 2, 1892. However, there was a fire there in 1897, and it was forced to close for a period of time.