a social, usable drinking fountain over a headstone in a cemetery. The statue's inscription reads "Memorial Fountain, to Dr. Samuel Mitchel Smith and His Sons, 1880." In 1994, the statue was valued by the city at $25,000, though its replacement cost would exceed that due to its almost seven-foot height and composition of solid bronze. History The Dr. Samuel Mitchel Smith and Sons Memorial Fountain was developed as a memorial to the doctor by his widow and daughters, five years after his 1874 death. It was forged at the Kelby Foundry in New York state. The memorial was originally installed at the southeast corner of Broad and High streets around 1880. It was authorized in 1879, and officially unveiled on Memorial Day in 1881, and was then given as a gift to the city. The statue was a feature of the 1908 Columbus Plan; the statue's placement interfered with traffic, as it was installed on sidewalk sticking out onto Broad Street. This problem, as well as the fountain not functioning and defacement by vandalism, spurred its first move. In 1915, after 35 years, it was relocated to the Starling Medical College (also known as St. Francis Hospital) at the intersection of State and Sixth Streets. The move led the statue's admirers to believe it escaped being adorned with a hat, an occurrence that happened each autumn by an unknown visitor, though the acts continued. The statue stood there for 42 years. Around 1957, the hospital was torn town and replaced by the larger Grant Medical Center. The statue was viewed as being in imminent danger. Columbus City Council's president suggested it be moved to the City Health and Safety Center (the Columbus Health Department offices), where it was temporarily stored in its basement. Several months later, it was placed on its front lawn, at the southeast corner of the Scioto Peninsula, where the statue faced downtown Columbus for 37 years. In 1987, local psychiatrists honored Smith for his pioneering ideas by visiting his statue. The statue was surveyed by the Smithsonian Institution's "Save Outdoor Sculpture!" program in 1993. Ohio State University's psychiatry department chair began looking into having the statue relocated to the campus in the mid 1980s. Before this could happen, however, the statue was stolen from its Health Center site. The October 1994 theft led to the statue's sale to an antique dealer in Atlanta, and resale to