History of District Heating in the United States

| Chronological List of District Heating Systems in the United States |

Crystal Palace, New York City, New York

New York Crystal Palace adjacent to Murray Hill Reservoir.

A separate boiler plant was built to supply steam power to the Crystal Palace building in New York City, which opened July 14, 1853 and closed on closed on November 1, 1854. It was also known as the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations. The chimney of the boiler plant is visible at the bottom of the image. No information has been found about the boiler plant or boilers.

A recommendation was made to install a steam heating apparatus to warm the building, but it was decided instead to use stoves with unsightly pipes carried through the whole height of the building.

The New York Crystal Palace was destroyed by fire on October 5, 1858

References
1852 Statement Made by the Association for the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations, in Regard to the Organization and Progress of the Enterprise, Association for the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations

1853 A Day in the New York Crystal Palace and how to make the most of it

1853 Official catalogue of the New-York exhibition of the industry of all nations.

1853 Art and Industry as Represented in the Exhibition at the Crystal Palace, New York--1853-4

1853 The American Crystal Palace, The Illustrated Magazine of Art 2(10):250-264

1854 Illustrated Description of the New-York Crystal Palace
Page 20: We cannot omit here to remark that the unsightly appearance of the stoves, with their pipes carried through the whole height of the building, which are employed by the Executive for heating the same, would have been avoided if necessary provisions according to our suggestions had been made in proper time (Appendix I.).
Page 50: Appendix I: A steam warming apparatus should be introduced; experience in superintending the erection and management of very extensive establishments having convinced me of the beneficial effect of keeping a temperature above freezing point, even when the building is entirely deserted by visitors.

1858 Miscellaneous Papers on Mechanical Subjects by Joseph Whitworth, includes New York Industrial Exhibition, 1853, Official Report