This guide provides an overview of the microfilm set, "Registers of Vessels Arriving at the Port of New York from Foreign Ports 1789 – 1919" (National Archives Microfilm Publication M1066), which is available in the History and Genealogy Department. Note: No passenger names are listed in these records, only the names of ships arriving at the Port of New York.
After working with these records of vessel arrivals, researchers may want to take the next step and work with New York passenger arrivals. That may be done by using the “New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957” database available through Ancestry Library Edition, which is available on computers in the History and Genealogy Department and at all St. Louis County Library branches. Sometimes searching Ancestry will locate a needed arrival list. However, when a search is unsuccessful, it may be necessary to examine the passenger arrival lists for one or more ships page-by-page.