On June 14, 1897
the original Immigration Station that had officially opened on January 1, 1892,
at a cost of $500,000 was destroyed by a disastrous fire shortly
after midnight. The buildings made of Georgia pine with slate roofs were
completely devoured by the intensity of the flames, leaving hardly a
trace of the station's past existence. Congress immediately appropriated
$600,000 to replace the lost structures with fireproof buildings. This immense
undertaking of rebuilding the structures on Ellis Island was completed in
about 2 and a 1/2 years. During this time the processing of the immigrants
continued at the old Barge Office in Battery Park. The new Ellis Island
Immigration Station cost more than $1.5 million to complete and was reopened on
December 17, 1900.
An evidence of corruption and dishonesty was clearly visible among the inspectors at the new station. The immigrants that appeared to have money would be pressured to grease abundantly the palms of the inspectors or be refused entry. The young pretty women were targeted by some of the inspectors for special favors in exchange for admittance into the country. The railroad agents would sell tickets at inflated prices, while there were those employees at the money exchange that would lie about the exchange rates and then pocket the difference.
Everyone wanted a piece of the action, exploiting the vulnerability of the masses that passed through the doors of the immigration station. As soon as President Theodore Roosevelt was made aware of the situation that was occurring at Ellis island in 1901, he immediately began a reorganization of its staff and officials, replacing the incompetent and corrupt ones with honest employees and officials. The reform policies that were established by the new commissioner William Williams in 1902 had definitely made its mark in correcting the immigrant situation as well as improving the image of Ellis Island. (6)
"Proposals to close Ellis Island were made as early as 1925, but immigrant processing did not cease entirely until the end of 1954, when only 21,500 immigrants, in all classes, passed through its portals. During World War II, the island served as a detention center for enemy aliens. In March 1955, Ellis Island was turned over to the General Services Administration—and a major era in American -history came to a close." (6)
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(6) Oh Ranger! "History of Ellis Island"
http://www.ohranger.com/ellis-island/history-ellis-island#1489