History

New York became a state on  Saturday, July 26, 1788. New York was the 11th state to be added to the United States. New York was the first capital of the  United States. Dutch people originally settled in New York in the year 1624 and established the colony of New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island. In 1664, the English took control of the area and renamed it New York. Between 1892 and 1954, millions of immigrants arrived in New York to pass through Ellis Island and become U.S. citizens. It is estimated that up to 40 percent of Americans can trace at least one ancestor to Ellis Island.