Angel Island Immigration Station

From 1910 to 1940, the Angel Island Immigration Station in California functioned as a Detention Center for people immigrating to the United States through the West Coast. Many of the people that passed through Angel Island came from Asia but also South America, Russia, Mexico, Australia, and Canada. Hundreds of inscriptions mark the walls of the former Immigration Station Detention Center including poems, names, dates, and images. Inscribed by detainees, the writing on the wall provides insight into the lives of those detained on the island. The Angel Island Immigration Station is one of only two National Historic Landmarks in the United States focused on Asian and Asian American history.

Angel Island became a California State Park in 1963. The buildings at the Immigration were set to be demolished but saved when a collection of Chinese poetry was found carved into the walls of the mens' barracks. Half a century of history is layered on the walls at the immigration station through poetry and inscriptions. The poetry paints a picture of what people were feeling as they made their way to America touching on uncertainty, hardship, and hope. Today over 200 poems have been documented, recorded, and translated.

In October 2020 CyArk documented the the Immigration Station using aerial and terrestrial photogrammetry as well as LiDAR or laser scanning. The team also documented the stories of the site through interviews with State Park interpreter Casey Dexter-Lee.  The data collected was used as the basis for the creation of virtual guided tour of the site, allowing virtual visitors to observe details of select poetry and inscriptions on the walls and gain new insight into the complexities of American immigration history within the 3D digital space. The project was completed in partnership with Angel Island State Park, the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, and with the generous support of Iron Mountain.