The Origins of 22 Unique State Holidays

On the first Tuesday in March, you won’t find Vermonters at work. Instead, residents show up to local gatherings to discuss civic issues on Town Meeting Day. And on the third Monday in April, you’ll find Bostonians cheering on thousands of marathon runners, then walking to a Red Sox game in honor of Patriots’ Day. These celebrations are among the many unique state holidays observed annually.

We combed through state government calendars and spoke to local experts and historians to learn more about the following 22 official state holidays (listed in chronological order). Whether commemorating important historic events or influential people, these observances have origins as unique as their modern-day festivities.

February 20

In 2023, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders designated February 20 as Daisy Gatson Bates Day to commemorate the civil rights activist’s integral role in racially integrating Arkansas schools. Bates’ desegregation work was wide-reaching and spanned her lifetime. Alongside her husband, she operated the Arkansas State Press, a weekly African American newspaper that supported civil rights. In 1952, she became president of the Arkansas NAACP. Bates further served as a mentor to the Little Rock Nine, the students who first integrated Little Rock Central High School, and she was subjected to racism and violent attacks because of her advocacy work.

March 2 (Texas Independence Day) and April 21 (San Jacinto Day)

Texas Independence Day marks the birth of Texas as a sovereign nation. Celebrated annually on March 2, it commemorates the 1836 signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence and the creation of its constitution, which established the Republic of Texas after its separation from Mexico. Delegates met at Washington-on-the-Brazos to formally break away from Mexican rule, thus earning the site its nickname as “the birthplace of Texas.”

“Texas is one of the few U.S. states to have been an independent nation before statehood,” says Jonathan Failor, executive director of Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site. “This unique path fostered a ‘fiercely independent identity’ that continues to define the state’s cultural pride.”

Texans around the state celebrate with formal proclamations, historical reenactments, parades, chili cook-offs, barbecue competitions, concerts and rodeos. Iconic landmarks like the University of Texas Tower are illuminated in burnt-orange to honor the occasion.

Meanwhile, San Jacinto Day commemorates the victory of General Sam Houston and his army over Mexico in the Battle of San Jacinto, which helped Texas officially gain independence.

First Tuesday in March

Unlike many states and cities that see low voter turnout during local elections, Vermont’s Town Meeting Day ensures everyone can participate in local democracy. The holiday, which originated with a town meeting in 1762 in Bennington, Vermont, became a statewide affair that gives voters the day off to have their voices heard. Some towns even report 100 percent voter turnout.

Typically, the event is held on the first Tuesday in March, which coincides with the statehood anniversary. (This can vary slightly from town to town.) People vote on local issues like a town or school budget and local amendments. Votes are conducted in person or by paper ballot, according to Vermont Public.

“It’s certainly common to hear a lot of people talk about Town Meeting as the most pure form of democracy,” Vermont Public’s senior political reporter Bob Kinzel said on a 2020 episode of Brave Little State. “It’s direct democracy where folks have an opportunity to change the scale of issues in their communities.”

March 26

Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana‘ole was Hawaii’s nonvoting delegate in Congress from 1902 to 1922, before the state was officially recognized in the union. He helped shape the Hawaiian government, pushed for preservation of Hawaiian culture and sponsored the first bill for Hawaiian statehood in 1919.

This holiday, designated by the Hawaiian territorial legislature in 1949, takes place on Prince Kūhiō’s birthday. It honors the Native Hawaiian who devoted his life to serving the people and preserving the Hawaiian way of life as well as people who continue that work today. Kūhiō’s legacy is celebrated with parades and “ho‘olaule‘as,” the Hawaiian word for “celebrations.”

Last Monday in March (Seward’s Day) and October 18 (Alaska Day)

Seward’s Day commemorates the U.S. purchase of Alaska in 1867 as orchestrated by Secretary of State William H. Seward. At the time, political cartoons mocked the acquisition by calling it Seward’s Folly or Seward’s Icebox, but “it ended up being a brilliant deal,” according to Luke Rosa, former high school history teacher and founder of Students of History. The United States purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million, or less than 2 cents per acre. Alaska created the state holiday of Seward’s Day in 1917; the deal and the man who brokered it, have been celebrated on the last Monday in March ever since.

The state didn’t stop there. It also established Alaska Day, which marks the formal transfer of the territory, on October 18 (observed in 2026 on October 19). Alaska Day is widely celebrated in Sitka, where the ceremonial transfer took place, with a party the state says is bigger than the Fourth of July. However, many people in Alaska’s Indigenous community feel the holiday emphasizes colonial powers at the expense of their own history in the region.

March 31

Cesar Chavez is known for his legacy as an activist and trailblazer for farmworkers’ rights. After witnessing the poor conditions farmworkers were subjected to, Chavez spent his life fighting for better treatment. He cofounded what became the United Farm Workers union, helped unionize farmworkers across California and organized nonviolent protests that helped workers secure higher wages and better working conditions.

In 1994, over 17,000 workers marched 340 miles from Delano to Sacramento to honor Chavez’s legacy. Inspired by the public demonstration, Governor Pete Wilson signed Cesar Chavez Day into law that September and set the holiday on Chavez’s birthday.

Third Monday in April

Patriots’ Day commemorates the start of the Revolutionary War and the patriots who fought against the British at Lexington and Concord in April 1775. “It’s a great bit of historical trivia that Maine celebrates it too because it was part of Massachusetts until 1820,” Luke Rosa says.

Patriots’ Day was first celebrated in Massachusetts in 1894 and replaced a colonial holiday known as Fast Day. Maine adopted it in 1907.

Bostonians celebrate Patriots’ Day by watching the Boston Marathon followed by an early Boston Red Sox home game at Fenway Park. “The ‘shot heard round the world’ happened around 6 a.m. in 1775, so they keep to an accurate timeline with alarm bells ringing from the Old Belfry at about 5:30 a.m. like they did to summon the regulars,” Rosa says. “When it’s done, there’s usually a pancake breakfast and coffee to warm up.” Maine holds battle reenactments and even a re-creation of Paul Revere’s midnight ride.

Last Friday in April

When settlers traveled to the windswept prairie of Nebraska in the 19th century, one major thing was missing: trees. J. Sterling Morton, a newspaper editor who later served as secretary of the Nebraska Territory, advocated for more greenery and went so far as to propose a tree-planting holiday, Arbor Day, in 1872. On April 10 of that year, there was a statewide competition to plant trees; more than 1 million were planted that first year. By 1874, Nebraska Governor Robert W. Furnas issued the first Arbor Day proclamation, and it became an official state holiday in 1885. It’s now celebrated later in the month and has caught on in other states.

May 8

More than five decades after his death, Missouri continues to celebrate the birthday of President Harry S. Truman on the aptly named Truman Day. His home state honors Truman, known for his support of civil rights and his controversial decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan, with historical reenactments, music, food and even birthday cake. Independence, Missouri, home to the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, has commemorated the state holiday with a wreath-laying ceremony and free admission to the museum.

June 11

King Kamehameha I ruled Hawaii from 1782 to 1819 and is sometimes known as the “father of the Hawaiian Kingdom” for his work conquering and unifying the islands. In late 1871, Kamehameha V designated June 11 as a day to honor his grandfather’s legacy. The widely attended June celebration once featured horse and velocipede races. Now, it includes parades with floral floats and marching bands, ho‘olaule‘as and lei draping ceremonies that adorn Kamehameha’s statue with 30-foot-long leis.

July 24

Pioneer Day is one of the oldest continuously celebrated holidays in the United States, Luke Rosa says. It was first observed in 1849, just two years after Brigham Young brought the first Latter-day Saint pioneers to Utah’s Salt Lake Valley. Today, Pioneer Day is an occasion for parades, fireworks and historical reenactments across the state. Some towns also have “candy cannons” that use replicas of pioneer-era cannons to blast out candy for kids, while others offer old-fashioned taffy pulls.

A cheeky counterpart to the festivities is “Pie and Beer Day,” a play on the holiday’s name that has gained traction especially among nonmembers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Breweries, bakeries and local restaurants have since joined in and now make it a fun day to enjoy a beer (or a root beer) and slice of pie.

Second Monday in August

Although the end of World War II had global significance, only one U.S. state celebrates the day with a legal holiday: Rhode Island. Victory Day was established in 1948 to honor the roughly one in 10 Rhode Islanders who went to war. During the conflict, the state also served as a naval training hub, hosted a massive Navy presence and churned out new ships, uniforms and weapons.

August 16

The Battle of Bennington was fought on August 16, 1777, during the Revolutionary War. The battle was actually fought in New York—not Vermont—but the misnomer refers to weapons and supplies stored in Bennington that soldiers were protecting. And so, every year since 1778, Vermonters have marked the victory over the British on Bennington Battle Day. It’s the longest-running celebration for a Revolutionary War battle. The occasion is now commemorated with parades, food, festivals and a reenactment on the battlefield near Bennington. The location is also marked by a 306-foot-tall monument, the tallest structure in Vermont.

August 27

Every August 27, Texas celebrates President Lyndon B. Johnson’s birthday. The state has many buildings and locations that honor the Texas-born president, including the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, the Lyndon Baines Johnson National Grassland and the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. On LBJ Day, memorial sites host wreath-laying ceremonies, cupcake buffets in a nod to his love of desserts and old-fashioned games like marbles and jacks.

First Monday in October

Frances Xavier Cabrini was one of Colorado history’s most prominent Italian Americans, according to Thalia Toha, geographer and architectural historian at the Lafayette History Museum in Colorado. Cabrini, a nun, first came to the United States in 1889 to help Italian immigrants fight discrimination and unfair wages in the New York area by establishing schools, hospitals, orphanages and social services for the poor. She arrived in Colorado in 1902 and continued her life’s work there. In 1946, nearly three decades after her death, Cabrini became the first American saint to be canonized by the Catholic Church.

In 2020, the Colorado Legislature voted to replace the state holiday of Columbus Day with Cabrini Day in the saint’s honor. With that, Cabrini Day became the first paid state holiday in the country to recognize a woman. It was first celebrated on October 5, 2020. “Cabrini Day serves as a statement of acknowledgment that America is built on…a multicultural heritage grounded on the geography upon which [we] stand,” Toha said.

Second Monday in October

The British surrender at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781 essentially ended the Revolutionary War and is remembered annually in Virginia on Yorktown Victory Day. The celebration, which falls on the same day the state marks Columbus Day, is filled with re-creations of military life and the Virginia colony as well as films and exhibits. Traditionally, people place wreaths at cemeteries and monuments to honor the men who fought in the Revolutionary War. In Yorktown, there is a patriotic parade, and the United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps performs at the Victory Monument.

October 31

Nevada Day commemorates the date Nevada was admitted to the Union on October 31, 1864, during the Civil War. Nevada’s statehood helped strengthen the Union, supported President Abraham Lincoln’s reelection and helped bring an end to the bloody war. Because of this unique origin, Nevada’s state motto is “All For Our Country.”

Today, Nevada is one of three states—alongside West Virginia and Hawaii—that observes its statehood anniversary as an official holiday (observed in 2026 on Friday, October 30). “This gives Nevadans a dedicated day to reflect on their history, contributions and shared identity,” says Jennell Peck, the board president of the nonprofit Nevada Day Inc.

Carson City’s Nevada Day Parade, first held in 1938, is the heart of the celebration and one of the longest-running traditions in the state. Peck says thousands of participants and spectators gather to enjoy the event’s decorated floats and marching band performances. Meanwhile, the Single Jack Drilling Contest pays tribute to the state’s mining heritage.

The Thursday after November’s general election

Politics can cause a lot of tension, but one tradition in Delaware’s Sussex County is meant to help opponents bury the hatchet—literally. On Return Day, which has been celebrated officially since 1812 and might date back to 1792, candidates and voters historically returned to the county courthouse where they had cast their votes two days prior to hear election results. As a sign of unity, political opponents rode on the same float during a parade and participated in a hatchet burial after the results were read. The celebration also included an ox roast and carnival.

Although it’s much easier to get election results today, the tradition continues with Democrats and Republicans gathering in Sussex County to participate in the ceremonial hatchet burial and parade.

Fourth Friday in November

The Friday after Thanksgiving marks a busy shopping day for many Americans, but for the people of Louisiana, Maryland and Washington, it’s also a day to celebrate heritage and culture. Louisiana’s Acadian Day, established in 1987, commemorates the arrival of the Acadian people from the former French colony of Acadia that once spanned Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island in Canada. On the same day in Maryland and Washington, residents commemorate Native American cultures, traditions and contributions to the United States.