History

Approximately 10,000 years ago, Angel Island broke off from the mainland due to the rising sea levels from the last Ice Age. The island’s first known inhabitants were the Miwok Indians, who used the land for hunting and gathering. In 1769, it was sighted by Spanish explorers, and was later formally named Isla de los Angeles by Juan de Ayala in 1775. Until 1848, Angel Island stood as a cattle ranch and a notorious meeting place for smugglers and pirates. President Fillmore declared the island as a military reserve in 1850, and the outbreak of the Spanish-American War led to Angel Island’s first use as a detention camp. By 1892, the island was converted to a quarantine station to keep certain epidemics from reaching the United States.

The Angel Island Immigration Station was opened in 1910 and lasted until 1940, and was the main entry point for immigrants arriving from the Pacific. More than one million people were processed at the station. Many immigrants, specifically the Chinese, were not allowed or welcomed into the country. This was due to the Chinese Exclusion Laws, which was first passed in 1882, and updated until 1943 to keep Chinese and other Asian ethnic groups from entering the United States. The arrival of World War II brought an end to the Chinese Exclusion Laws after China allied with the United States. In 1954, the Angel Island Immigration Station was turned over to the state of California. Because of the Cold War, a radar and missile site was built on the island from 1955 to 1962. In 2009, Angel Island was renovated and reopened as a state park.

Sources:
http://www.aiisf.org/history
http://angelisland.org/history/

-Abbygail Talao