Introduction: This is a list of indexes of passenger lists (also called immigration records or ship manifests) for ships that sailed to the United States from 1820 to the 1940s, including microfilm, books and online indexes. Microfilm records listed here are available at the National Archives (NARA) and some of its branches.
Some of the online indexes or databases listed below include digitized images of the passenger lists from the National Archives microfilm, which can be viewed online at Ancestry (fee-based). Some may also be available online at FamilySearch (free).
Indexes for Passenger Lists by Port and Time Frame
New York was the most commonly used port for immigrants in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. The list below begins with New York, followed by Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Galveston, and smaller ports.
New York 1820-1957
- Online Index: New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957
 (at Ancestry/requires payment) name index plus passenger list images from the National Archives microfilm - includes the Barge Office, Castle Garden and Ellis Island years
New York 1820-1846
- MICROFILM: Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, 1820-1846 (NARA & FHL Microfilm Numbers) (NARA Publication M261; 103 rolls)
- BOOK: Passenger Arrivals at the Port of New York, 1820-1829; From Customs Passenger Lists; transcribed by Elizabeth P. Bentley; Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1999. This book contains the names of more than 85,000 passengers (listed alphabetically) who arrived in New York from 1820-1829 taken from a direct transcription of the original microfilmed passenger lists (NARA roll 1 thru part of roll 13 of M237).
- BOOK: Passenger Arrivals at the Port of New York, 1830-1832; From Customs Passenger Lists; transcribed by Elizabeth P. Bentley; Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2000. A sequel to the above book, and arranged in the same way, this volume contains the names of about 65,000 passengers who arrived in New York from 1830-1832. Coverage is for part of roll 13 thru part of roll 18 of NARA microfilm series M237.
New York 1847-1897 (includes Castle Garden, the Barge Office and Ellis Island)
New York passenger lists have not been indexed on microfilm from 1847 to mid 1897, but they are indexed online, and many other resources are also available...
New York 1897-1948
Note: The National Archives has microfilm of New York passenger records to 1957. However, they have only been indexed on microfilm to 1948. They have been indexed online to 1957.
Baltimore 1820-1950s
- BOOK: Passenger Arrivals at the Port of Baltimore 1820-1834 transcribed by Elizabeth P. Bentley, edited by by Michael H. Tepper; Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1982, reprinted 1999. (768 pages).
This book contains the names of about 50,000 passengers (listed alphabetically) who arrived in Baltimore from 1820-1834, and indexes all of the available Baltimore lists for this period: the State Department Transcripts, Quarterly Abstracts and the surviving original lists. About 75% of the passengers were German, many of the rest were British or Irish.
Boston 1820-1963
A separate webpage has been set up for the port of Boston. This webpage lists Boston passenger records and indexes from 1820-1963, online and off. Included is information about how to find the "missing" Boston passenger records from 1855-1856 and 1874-1882.
Galveston, Texas
A separate webpage has been set up for the port of Galveston...
New Orleans 1820-1952
Philadelphia 1800-1948
- BOOK: Passenger Arrivals at the Port of Philadelphia 1800-1819; transcribed by Elizabeth P. Bentley, edited by Michael H. Tepper; Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1986. (913 pages)
This book contains the names of about 40,000 passengers (listed alphabetically) who arrived in Philadelphia from 1800-1819. Most of the passengers were from Great Britain (especially Northern Irleand) and Germany.
Other Ports
- Various Ports (1820-1873): Miscellaneous Atlantic, Gulf Coast and Great Lakes Ports 1820-1873 (with links to indexes, online and off)
- Various Ports (1890s-1940s): Miscellaneous Atlantic Ports Passenger Lists 1890s-1940s
 Online index and digitized images of the passenger lists (at Ancestry/requires payment) includes the following ports...
- Bridgeport, New Haven, and New London, Connecticut 1929-1959
- Gloucester, Massachusetts 1906-1942
- New Bedford, Massachusetts 1901-1942
- Portland, Maine 1893-1943 (plus 1 list from 1891)
- Providence, Rhode Island 1911-1943
- Savannah, Georgia 1906-1945
- Charleston, South Carolina Passenger Lists
- New Bedford, Massachusetts Index 1902-1954 (microfilm catalog numbers; includes passenger lists 1902-1942)
- Portland, Maine Index 1893-1954 (NARA & FHL Catalog Numbers; includes passenger lists 1893-1943)
- San Francisco, California Index to Passenger Lists 1893-1953
- Savannah, Georgia Passenger Lists 1906-1945 with index information
- Seattle, Tacoma and Port Townsend, Washington Passenger and Crew Lists 1882-1957
 online index and images (at Ancestry/requires payment)
- Various Southern Ports: Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Ports in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina 1890-1924 (NARA & FHL Catalog Numbers)
- Smaller Ports: U.S. Ports of Entry and their Available Passenger Lists (includes many ports not listed here)
Don't Know Which Port?
If you don't know which port your ancestor arrived at try: Tips for Determining Your Ancestor's Port of Arrival in the US
Ancestry's Immigration Records Collection
- ONLINE DATABASE: Ancestry's Immigration Records Collection
 (requires payment) Includes ship passenger indexes (many with online digitized images from the microfilm) for New York (1820-1957), Boston (1820-1943), Baltimore (1820-1948 and 1954-1957), Philadelphia (1800-1945), New Orleans (1820-1945), San Francisco (1893-1953), and many smaller ports, plus some Canadian passenger lists and border crossings, and some US naturalization records.
FamilySearch's Migration and Naturalization Records Collection
Other Resources
- Supplementary Resource: Passenger and Immigration Lists Index (at Ancestry/requires payment) a Guide to Published Arrival Records of...Passengers Who Came to the United States and Canada in the 17th, 18th, and 19th Centuries; edited by P. William Filby; Published by Gale Research Co, Detroit, MI (1981-ongoing); Originally published as a book series in 3 volumes with annual supplements, this database indexes numerous sources of some passenger arrivals, naturalizations and other immigrant resources. You may be able to find the books at a library.
- BOOK: Swedish Passenger Arrivals in the United States 1820-1850 by Nils William Olsson and Erik Wikén, published by Schmidts Boktryckeri AB, 1995; indexed
This well researched book documents about 5000 Swedish immigrants who came to the US from 1820-1850. Information given for each person includes age, sex, name of ship, date of arrival, and ports of arrival and departure. A brief bio is also given for many of the passengers or families.
Basic Genealogy Research Tips and Using Census Records
- If you don't know when or where your ancestor arrived you should first do some basic genealogy research. Use this website's Basic Research Outline. Talk to your relatives. Compile as much information as you can. Then research church, census and vital records. These kinds of records can give you clues as to when your immigrant ancestor arrived and sometimes where he or she came from. Post-1906 Naturalization Records almost always give arrival details for the person. You can usually find the year of immigration for someone in the 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930 US Federal Census Records.
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