Central Park Spring By James Reuel Smith, 109th Street, Harlem, NY, March 18, 1901

The Central Park fresh water spring photograph by James Reuel Smith at West 109th Street, (150 feet east of) Eighth Avenue, Harlem, New York, on March 18, 1901.

The springs and wells that ran throughout Harlem, the Bronx and the entire area are connected to the “Indian Springs” and wells that Harlem World Magazine wrote about a few years ago. Smith’s photographs document this transition between “Indian Springs” and the industrial revolution of mass production bringing water to homes throughout the area.

James Reuel Smith was born in 1852 in Skaneateles, NY. Smith loved photographing and investigating springs and wells. In 1922, he published Springs and Wells in Greek and Roman Literature, Their Legends and Locations. He spent much of the years from 1897 to 1901 bicycling around Northern Manhattan.

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