RICHMOND — Like the town of Richmond, which this year is celebrating the 200th anniversary of its incorporation, the statue of T.J. Southard has a rich history.

As part of the yearlong bicentennial celebration, Richmond officials moved the statue Wednesday from the former Southard House Museum at 75 Main St. to the Town Office at 26 Gardiner St., so it is what visitors see first upon entering the municipal building.

Southard, who was a shipbuilder, is considered one of the founders of the Sagadahoc County town, which was incorporated Feb. 10, 1823.

The statue was carved in the late 1800s from Hallowell granite and installed in 1883 or 1884 at what was known as the town’s opera house, according to town historian Jay Robbins. It stood there until 1935, when the whole building burned — except the wall where the statue stood.

The statue was then moved to the town’s marina — fitting for the founder of one of the most productive shipyards in the state in the 1800s — until it was stolen 20 years later by teenagers from Bowdoinham, who placed the statue in the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge in Bowdoinham.

After that, it ended up at an antiques store in Edgecomb, which also burned.

“It caught on fire and someone said: ‘Get that man out. He will burn alive,'” Robbins said, noting that someone mistook the statue as a person. “They took it out and as the fire truck came. It backed into it and took out the legs of the statue.”

The statue was restored by a woman in town, Robbins said, and in 1990, it was placed inside the Southard House Museum at 75 Main St., where Southard once lived.

Town Manager Laurisa Loon said she worked with the Richmond Historical Committee to plan events throughout the year to commemorate the town’s history, including its industries, historic buildings and notable people with ties to the town. Planning began in midsummer, Loon said.

“We started in August,” Loon said. “and it’s very cool to be a part of. I’m happy I happened to be in the seat, and it’s cool because I’m finding stuff out about my own family history.”

Loon said her uncle, Lewis Loon, was among those who started the local American Legion, which this year will celebrate its 100th anniversary. Loon said plans call for celebrating the milestone later this year at Enterprise Grange No. 48.

Beginning the actual date of the town’s incorporation, a two-day celebration is planned, including “fire and ice” — fireworks Friday night, Feb. 10, the first time the town will have fireworks at night in the winter, and ice sculptures and displays the next day, a nod to the town’s history of ice harvesting.

And on Sunday, Feb. 19, the town is planning its fishing derby.

Loon said other activities include an art festival in May and a weeklong celebration of Richmond Days, an annual event that usually takes place the last weekend in July.

Perhaps one of the most exciting events will be the June 25 celebration of R.B. Hall Day — a new state holiday honoring the Bowdoinham composer — that is to include musical performances from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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