Traveling by bicycle, Smith explored the upper half of Manhattan and much of the Bronx looking for and photographing those places where New Yorkers were still getting water without the necessity of an aqueduct or faucet.

Springs were very important to Smith, and he made careful notes regarding each aquiferous site he encountered. His interest led him to travel around the Mediterranean region in search of the springs mentioned in classical literature—a journey that led to the 1922 publication of "Springs and Wells in Greek and Roman Literature, Their Legends and Locations."

His study of New York City’s springs, however, was only published posthumously. When he died in 1935, his will directed that the New-York Historical Society should receive his photographs and papers, as well as some money, on the condition that it publish his then unknown work. The arrangement resulted in the 1938 publication of "Springs and Wells of Manhattan and the Bronx: New York City at the End of the Nineteenth Century."

In Smith’s introduction to the book, written around 1916, he reflects on the rapidly changing city and the practical and aesthetic pleasures offered by the remaining springs: "Nothing was more cheering to the thirsty city tourist afoot or awheel then to discover a natural spring of clear cold water, and nothing quite so refreshing as a draught of it."

Many of the natural springs and wells are now gone or no longer potable, but Smith's photos preserve a different era of New York life.

A cup lies near the Gun Club Spring, west of Fort Washington Ave. at about W. 170th St. Smith took this photograph on September 21, 1897.

A hose emerges from the Haven Lane Spring (also knownc as Buckman's well) between W. 181st and W. 182nd Streets, Northern Ave. and Riverside Dr.