In general, the Philadelphia Lazaretto acted as a processing site for new and returning travelers. Like New York City's Ellis Island a century later, the Lazaretto welcomed immigrants and screened them for signs of disease. If a passenger showed symptoms of illnesses such as yellow fever or cholera, their whole ship could be quarantined until the Lazaretto physician believed the threat was gone.

 

Infected passengers or crew were isolated and nursed at the site's hospital. Some travelers were turned away and forced back on their ships. Before the 1940s, when antibiotics became widespread, quarantine sites buried many of the individuals who entered their gates.

Since the Lazaretto worked to identify and stop the spread of disease, healthy travelers would be under observation until cleared to continue into the city.

 

Depending on the physician, quarantine stays ranged from a few days to a few weeks! The letter on the right is from Joseph and Narciso Moran to their mother at the Lazaretto. When traveling into Philadelphia, she and her daughter Sarah were kept at the Lazaretto long enough that they had time to send AND receive a letter. 

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