June 19, 2021

By Peter Hartlaub
Angel Island State Park is much bigger, less expensive, and often 10 degrees warmer than its penitentiary brother to the south. But it’s still an underrated Bay Area gem.

The most important historical destination on the island is the Immigration Station at Winslow Cove, which served as a port between 1910 and 1940, processing more than 500,000 immigrants, including hundreds of thousands from China.

“It’s called the Ellis Island of the West,” Martini says, raving about recent improvements to the detention barracks museum and the ability for families to trace ancestors who came through Angel Island.

The Immigration Station is currently open for self-guided tours. (read more…)