Chapter 3 · The crossing · Other ports
A large share of Polish immigrants never saw New York. They landed in Baltimore, Philadelphia or Boston, or sailed to Canada and crossed the border by train. Searching only Ellis Island is the most common reason an arrival cannot be found.
Baltimore
The North German Lloyd ran a direct service from Bremen to Baltimore, where the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad met the ships at Locust Point and carried immigrants straight to Pennsylvania and the Midwest. For Poles bound for mining and steel towns, Baltimore was often the natural port.
Philadelphia and Boston
Philadelphia received the Red Star Line from Antwerp and ships from Liverpool. Boston received Cunard and other British lines. Smaller numbers of Polish immigrants arrived at Galveston and New Orleans, particularly those heading for Texas.
Through Canada
In some years the route through Quebec or Halifax was cheaper. Immigrants who landed in Canada and continued to the United States by train were recorded on the border-crossing lists kept from 1895, known as the St. Albans lists after the Vermont office that administered them. They cover the entire Canadian frontier.
How to tell which port
- Naturalization papers after 1906 name the port and the ship
- The destination on the census or in family stories suggests a route
- Bremen passengers often went to Baltimore; Hamburg passengers mostly to New York
- A Canadian relative or first address points to the border lists
How we can help
Immigration & Passenger Records searches every port of arrival and the Canadian border lists, not just New York.