Thanks to the London Illustrated Times, we have a good idea of what the inaugural ball looked like. Hundreds of superbly dressed men and women danced in high spirits in the largest section of the U.S. Patent building. Gauging by the size and height of the windows, the room was twenty feet high and almost two hundred feet in length, meaning that it was, perhaps, the grandest venue for such a celebration that could possibly be found. The British observers did not comment directly, but implicit in the drawing was the acknowledgement that the Americans had come a long way in terms of refinement and elegance.