admitted, if they could prove it. While Chinese immigrants waited to document their family ties, they were housed in barracks on Angel Island. Additionally, immigrants from over 80 other Pacific countries entered the U.S. officially through the Immigration Station, which served as the west coast equivalent to Ellis Island.

The restoration of the Immigration Station is one in a series of ongoing historic restoration projects on

The first immigrant to Angel Island in San Francisco Bay arrived 10,000 years ago. He was probably an ancestor of the Coast Miwok people who took residence in Marin County, north of the San Francisco Peninsula and arrived by tule reed boat to explore for food and habitat. His history was not recorded, though it is imagined. The history of thousands of other immigrants who passed through Angel Island will, however, be preserved when the historic U.S. Immigration Station on Angel Island completes a restoration and reopens in 2008.

Restoration of the immigration station on Angel Island has been years coming, funded by the State of California (which oversees Angel Island State Park), countless private contributions - many from descendents of those who entered the U.S. through the immigration station - and, most recently, by a grant from the American Express Partners in Preservation program.

When the Angel Island Immigration Station reopens next year, thousands whose ancestors arrived in America from the Pacific will be able to experience what living there was like and better understand the frustrations they experienced while interned and hopes they had for their future lives in America. Others will better appreciate the insensitive way in which people were excluded because of their race and differences.

The Immigration Station was constructed in 1905 at what was then called China Cove. Its purpose was to be a point of entry for all immigrants from the Pacific, though it gained infamy as means of enforcing exclusion laws which limited Chinese entry to the U.S. At the time, only 105 Chinese could enter the U.S. legally per year, however Chinese who could prove familiar relationship to a legal citizen could be admitted, if they could prove it. While Chinese immigrants waited to document their family ties, they were housed in barracks on Angel Island. Additionally, immigrants from over 80 other Pacific countries entered the U.S. officially through the Immigration Station, which served as the west coast equivalent to Ellis Island.

The restoration of the Immigration Station is one in a series of ongoing historic restoration projects on

the historic U.S. Immigration Station on Angel Island completes a restoration and reopens in 2008.

Restoration of the immigration station on Angel Island has been years coming, funded by the State of California (which oversees Angel Island State Park), countless private contributions - many from descendents of those who entered the U.S. through the immigration station - and, most recently, by a grant from the American Express Partners in Preservation program.

When the Angel Island Immigration Station reopens next year, thousands whose ancestors arrived in America from the Pacific will be able to experience what living there was like and better understand the frustrations they experienced while interned and hopes they had for their future lives in America. Others will better appreciate the insensitive way in which people were excluded because of their race and differences.

The Immigration Station was constructed in 1905 at what was then called China Cove. Its purpose was to be a point of entry for all immigrants from the Pacific, though it gained infamy as means of enforcing exclusion laws which limited Chinese entry to the U.S. At the time, only 105 Chinese could enter the U.S. legally per year, however Chinese who could prove familiar relationship to a legal citizen could be admitted, if they could prove it. While Chinese immigrants waited to document their family ties, they were housed in barracks on Angel Island. Additionally, immigrants from over 80 other Pacific countries entered the U.S. officially through the Immigration Station, which served as the west coast equivalent to Ellis Island.

The restoration of the Immigration Station is one in a series of ongoing historic restoration projects on

tners in Preservation program.

When the Angel Island Immigration Station reopens next year, thousands whose ancestors arrived in America from the Pacific will be able to experience what living there was like and better understand the frustrations they experienced while interned and hopes they had for their future lives in America. Others will better appreciate the insensitive way in which people were excluded because of their race and differences.

The Immigration Station was constructed in 1905 at what was then called China Cove. Its purpose was to be a point of entry for all immigrants from the Pacific, though it gained infamy as means of enforcing exclusion laws which limited Chinese entry to the U.S. At the time, only 105 Chinese could enter the U.S. legally per year, however Chinese who could prove familiar relationship to a legal citizen could be admitted, if they could prove it. While Chinese immigrants waited to document their family ties, they were housed in barracks on Angel Island. Additionally, immigrants from over 80 other Pacific countries entered the U.S. officially through the Immigration Station, which served as the west coast equivalent to Ellis Island.

The restoration of the Immigration Station is one in a series of ongoing historic restoration projects on

ce and differences.

The Immigration Station was constructed in 1905 at what was then called China Cove. Its purpose was to be a point of entry for all immigrants from the Pacific, though it gained infamy as means of enforcing exclusion laws which limited Chinese entry to the U.S. At the time, only 105 Chinese could enter the U.S. legally per year, however Chinese who could prove familiar relationship to a legal citizen could be admitted, if they could prove it. While Chinese immigrants waited to document their family ties, they were housed in barracks on Angel Island. Additionally, immigrants from over 80 other Pacific countries entered the U.S. officially through the Immigration Station, which served as the west coast equivalent to Ellis Island.

The restoration of the Immigration Station is one in a series of ongoing historic restoration projects on

admitted, if they could prove it. While Chinese immigrants waited to document their family ties, they were housed in barracks on Angel Island. Additionally, immigrants from over 80 other Pacific countries entered the U.S. officially through the Immigration Station, which served as the west coast equivalent to Ellis Island.

The restoration of the Immigration Station is one in a series of ongoing historic restoration projects on Angel Island, the largest island in San Francisco Bay. This hilly, grass and oak forested, triangle-shaped island was an important coastal defensive position for much of the past 150 years. U.S. Army soldiers were posted on Angel Island and conducted military actions from the island from the American Civil War to the Cold War. Camp Reynolds (named after a general who died at the Battle of Gettysburg), the last original wooden Civil War era army post still in existence, is found on the island’s west end; troops serving in campaigns against the Apache, Sioux, Modoc and other Indian tribes were staged from the island during the late 1800s; soldiers shipped out to the Philippines during the Spanish-American War, and to World War I, World War II and the Korean War thereafter; and defensive Nike missile launch pads were situated on Angel Island during the Cold War. Most of the remaining army facilities are in a state of gradual deterioration, affected by the island’s exposure to the sea and they would otherwise decay away were it not for the visitors to the island who find value in preserving them and the agencies, foundations and contributors, like American Express who are working to sustain their stories.

The Coast Miwok didn’t have such patrons. Their stories are mostly forgotten, and yet Californians are increasingly recognizing that if what we do today is to have any meaning or value, then we must begin by first recognizing and preserving what happened before our time. That’s now happening on Angel Island thanks to new Partnerships in Preservation.