Angel Island Immigration Station

Known as “Ellis Island of the West,” Angel Island Immigration Station saw approximately 1 million Asian immigrants between 1910 and 1940. ARG was part of a team effort to rehabilitate and reuse Angel Island’s abandoned buildings as education and visitor centers. ARG also worked to conserve poetry inscribed by many of the immigrants on the floors and walls of the Detention Barracks, an important piece of American architectural history.

WHAT YOU DON’T SEE

The buildings on Angel Island were initially scheduled for demolition until the inscribed poems were discovered, which halted plans. Today, more than 200 poems have been recovered and restored.

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Most of the island is located in Marin County, except for 0.7% that stretches into San Francisco County.

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Angel Island is the second largest island in the Bay Area, after Alameda.

Photography by David Wakely

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