Ellis Island virtual tour now available

Ellis Island virtual tour now available

NEW YORK

Areas of Ellis Island not included on regular tours can now be visited in a virtual tour.

The tour includes the hospital complex where immigrants with illnesses were treated before being allowed to enter the U.S. The 22-building site housed wards to treat contagious diseases, assess mental conditions and provide care for pregnant women.

The National Park Service launched the virtual tour of the south side of Ellis Island last week.

The 40 interactive photographs are created from detailed 3-D scans and are supplemented with historic images of the same buildings as they once looked.

The abandoned hospital and contagious-disease wards have been stabilized but not restored.

For more information, visit www.nps.gov/elis/learn/photosmultimedia/virtual-tour.htm.

Tourism rebounds after historic rain

CHARLESTON, S.C.

South Carolina is working to assure visitors that things are back after historic rain and flooding and that the state’s coast is open for fall vacations.

Myrtle Beach, Charleston and the state are mounting campaigns to let visitors know that tourist attractions are open, as are the roads leading to the coast.

Officials estimate the $18 billion industry has lost tens of millions of dollars because of the storm.

The state campaign is called “Our Coast is Clear” and features a television ad narrated by Gov. Nikki Haley.

Geography quiz

Q. In which country would you find Hadrian’s Wall?

A. England. The Roman defensive fortification was built in the second century and stretches 73 miles from the North Sea to the Irish Sea in northern England.

Park visitation

WEST GLACIER, Mont.

Glacier National Park could set a visitation record this year as the number of visits at the end of September remains above that counted at the same point last year, when the record was broken.

The Missoulian reports Glacier visitation so far this year stands at more than 2.2 million, and is almost 23,000 people ahead of totals at the end of September last year.

The park needs about 91,000 more visits to break the record.

Combined dispatches