The Reservoir had been there eleven years, when the Crystal Palace, modelled after the London Crystal Palace at Sydenham, was formally opened July 14, 1853, by President Franklin Pierce.

Six hundred and fifty thousand dollars was the cost of the building, which was shaped like a Greek cross, of glass and iron, with a graceful dome, arched naves, and broad aisles.

Upon the completion of the Atlantic Cable in 1858 an ovation was given in the Palace to Cyrus W.Field.
Beyond the Palace, to the north, was the Latting Tower, an observatory, three hundred and fifty feet high, an octagon seventy-five feet across the base, of timber, braced with iron, and anchored at each of the eight angles with about forty tons of stone and timber.

The tower was the design of Warren Latting, and cost one hundred thousand dollars.
Immediately over the first story there was a refreshment room, and above three view landings, the highest being three hundred feet from the pavement.

The proprietors were as sanguine as the promoters of the Crystal Palace and the builder of "The House of Mansions" had been.