“Castle Clinton stands where New York City began,” writes the National Park Service website. Located at the southern tip of Manhattan, the sandstone fortification — also known as Fort Clinton — was initially one of four constructed forts intended to prevent a British invasion in 1812. However, its reputation is cemented as America’s first immigration station. Prior to Ellis Island, it welcomed more than 8 million people arriving to the United States between the years 1855 to 1890, and it’s been repurposed as a beer garden, theater and public aquarium over the course of its life.