Latting Observatory, Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations

The Latting Observatory was a temporary structure erected for the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations 1853-1854, near 6th Avenue, between 42nd (entrance) and 43rd streets, in New York City (near the New York Crystal Palace and adjacent to what is now Bryant Park). Illustration drawn by William Naugle and engraved by Seibert & Shearman Robertson, about 1853. Source: New York Public Library.

Construction of the Latting Observatory began by March, 1853 (or before) and it opened on July 2. It was conceived by Waring Latting (1809–1881), one of the proprietors, and William Naugle was the architect. The office of the Latting Observatory Association was located at 167 Broadway. It was and iron-braced wooden tower 315 (350 total) feet high, with an octagon base of 75 feet in diameter, which housed shops. The tower terminated with a flag-staff, in all 50 feet above the highest landing, making the extreme altitude from base to top of pole just 350 feet. It was capable of accommodating about 1500 persons at a time on its landings at three levels. Telescopes on the three landings, at 125 feet (38 m), 225 feet (69 m), and 300 feet (91 m), allowed tourists to peer over the surroundings. In the upper story was an ice-cream saloon fitted up for ladies.

Ascent was possible using winding stairways with several intermediate landings. The original project included a steam elevator to be installed to service all three heights, but there is no known record of it in operation. However, in 1853, Elisha Graves Otis exhibited at the Crystal Palace the first elevator with a safety device to prevent the car from falling if the cable should break. A platform freight elevator had been in use in New York in 1850. The first passenger elevator for customers in New York was built in 1857 for the Haughwout Building, a department store on Broadway.

The Exhibition opened on July 14, 1853 and closed on November 14, 1854. The tower was acquired by the Hydeville Marble Works after the end of the Exhibition in 1854. The company removed the top 75 feet of the tower in 1855. Latting Observatory burned down on August 30, 1856. The fire started between midnight and 1:00 AM in a cooper's shop at 49 West 43rd Street and destroyed more than twelve buildings. For a brief time, it was the tallest structure in New York, surpassing the spire of Trinity Church.