MURMANSK RUN/ELLIS ISLAND

Murmansk is located on the Kola Gulf in the Barents Sea in Russia.It is 625 miles north of Leningrad (St. Petersburg?), and about 35 miles from the open sea. It is the largest city in the world north of the Arctic Circle, and is the principal base for the Russian deep sea fishing fleet as well as the home of the Arctic fisheries and Oceanography research institutes.

The port at Murmansk is ice free, and is kept open all winter by warm currents flowing up from the Gulf Stream.

Murmansk was founded in 1915 as a port to receive Allied supplies for the Russian armies during World War I. It was held by Allied interventionists from 1918 to 1920 following the Bolshevik Revolution.

In World War II the port resisted a German drive, and was again used as a port for Allied convoys bringing supplies to Russian troops.

Ellis Island is located in Upper New York Bay about 1 mile from the southwestern tip of Manhattan. It served as the principal immigration reception center for the United States between 1892 and 1943.

The Island was named for Samuel Ellis, who owned it in the early 18th century. The U.S. government bought it from the New York state and used it as a fort and arsenal until 1892, when it opened the immigration center.

At the peak, one million immigrants were processed there each year.

Author
Kim Dyer (kimbis@aol.com) Last updated: May 24, 1995