[IMMIGRATION]. -- [NEW YORK]. A group of 5 original voucher contract documents for the construction and repairs of the Immigration Station at Ellis Island, New York, 1900. Four in 4to (267 x 204 mm); one in folio (356 x 216 mm). Partially printed and accomplished in manuscript, appropriations on verso, docketed with stamps and in manuscript, old folds, old staple holes at corners. Between 1892 and 1954, nearly 12 million immigrants were inspected and processed through Ellis Island, making it the busiest immigration station in the United States. In 1897, the station was destroyed by a fire and a second station opened in 1900 and almost immediately, additional projects commenced to improve the main structure and the addition of several new buildings. These voucher contracts call for numerous repairs and new construction from various companies that include crib work, removal of an old ferry ship, construction of the bath house, laundry, and main hospital building, smokestacks, etc. Today, more than 40 percent of Americans can trace their family history back to Ellis Island.