July 14, 1853 – America’s 1st World’s Fair Opens, in New York City

On this day in history, the first world’s fair held in America opened in New YorkCity. Called the “Exhibition of the Industry of All the Nations,” it was located in present day Bryant Park (then known as Reservoir Square). Two notable structures for which the exhibition was remembered were New York’s Crystal Palace and the Latting Observatory.

Walt Whitman wrote a poem praising the Crystal Palace as “mightier than Egypt’s tombs.” It didn’t last quite as long, however; a fire destroyed it on October 5, 1858.

New York’s Crystal Palace via Wikipedia Commons

As for the Latting Observatory, the wooden tower was called “New York’s first skyscraper,” reaching 315 feet. It burned down in 1856. Gustave Eiffel later said the inspiration for his centerpiece tower in Paris’s 1889 World’s Fair, which we now call the Eiffel Tower, came from the Latting Observatory. Fortunately, however, Eiffel chose wrought-iron rather than wood for the construction.

Latting Observatory in 1853. The edge of the New York Crystal Palace can be seen at right. via Wikipedia

New York did not host a world’s fair again until 1939.