Susan Collins: “I rise today to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the incorporation of Richmond, ME. As community events throughout…”

“I rise today to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the incorporation of Richmond, ME. As community events throughout this bicentennial year demonstrate, Richmond has a fascinating history that exemplifies the determination and ingenuity that defines the State of Maine. For thousands of years, the woods and waters where the Kennebec River meets the sea at Merrymeeting Bay sustained the Abenaki people. In 1605, the explorers Samuel de Champlain and George Weymouth led the first European expeditions to the area. In the decades following a land purchase from the Tribes in 1649, the first English settlers established farms, grain and lumber mills, a trading post, and, in 1719, Fort Richmond. Originally part of the town of Bowdoinham, a community named for the fort grew and prospered on land granted to Revolutionary War veteran John Plummer, and Richmond incorporated as a separate town in 1823. The Kennebec River flows through Richmond's history. With vast lumber supplies and nearby ocean access, the town became a key center for the seafaring trade and shipbuilding in early America. An estimated 200 ships were built in Richmond during the days of sail, about half of them by Thomas Jefferson Southard. Known as ``the father of Richmond village,'' Southard rose from blacksmith apprentice to master shipbuilder and property developer, and his memory lives on in the stunning architecture that distinguishes the town today.…”