Exactly 100 years ago today, my 18 year old grandfather, Kurt William Leucht, wrote the following entry into his journal:

 It was 11:30am [Germany time] when I got up; 5:30am New York time.  [Kurt now switched to New York City time in his journal.]  At 9:00, we saw land far on the horizon.  At 10:30, we could recognize the buildings of New York City fairly well.  At noon, we rode past the skyscrapers and the Statue of Liberty.

We docked at 8:00pm [in Hoboken, NJ which is a couple miles from Ellis Island].  From a distance, one could see the thousands of people at the arrival hall, who were expecting us and shouting well wishes.  It was a great joy.  Shortly before docking, a heavy rain came down, but it soon stopped.  First and Second Class disembarked, while we had to remain in the lower decks overnight.  There was much to see on the docks from the ship.

You can read my grandfather’s entire journal and see photos of what New York and Ellis Island actually looked like in 1914 by clicking below.  It’s quite interesting!  Of course, I’m biased!   🙂

http://www.leucht.com/history/My_Journey_To_America-Journal_of_Kurt_William_Leucht-1914_to_1920.pdf

Thanks for your interest!
Kurt