To everyone who supports the Big Nail and the many local charities who provide food, comfort, shelter and space year round, the Big Nail says:

Since the Big Nail is very patriotic, we present the following information from the Fourth of July Celebrations Database (which according to this site, was researched, compiled, and arranged by James R. Heintze of American University in Washington, D.C.):

The United States observes no national holidays, that is, holidays mandated across all 50 states by the Federal government. The United States Congress and/or President can only legally establish an “official” holiday for its “federal” employees and the District of Columbia. States and municipalities are free to adopt holidays enjoyed by the federal government or to create their own. This can be accomplished in several ways, either through enactment of a law issued by a state legislature or by an executive proclamation, that is, by order from a state governor. As an act of confirmation, it is possible as well that a city may enact an ordinance regarding the celebration of the Fourth of July or any other holiday. As stated in the World Almanac (1998, p. 315), however, “in practice, most states observe the federal legal public holiday.”

The first “official” state celebration of the Fourth as recognized under resolve of a legislature occurred in Massachusetts in 1781. Boston was the first municipality (city/town) to officially designate July Fourth as a holiday, in 1783. Alexander Martin of North Carolina was the first governor to issue a state order (in 1783) for celebrating the independence of the country on the Fourth of July. In 1870 the first federal legislation was passed giving federal employees a “day off” from work, but without pay.

Its interesting to note as well that when July 4th fell on a Sunday, the anniversary was celebrated in most places on Monday, July 5:

List of years that July 4 fell on Sunday: 1779, 1784, 1790, 1802, 1813, 1819, 1824, 1830, 1841, 1847, 1852, 1858, 1869, 1875, 1880, 1886, 1897, 1909, 1915, 1920, 1926, 1937, 1943, 1948, 1954, 1965, 1971, 1976, 1982, 1993, 1999

However, some towns opted to celebrate Independence Day on Saturday, July 3, but that was not as common. In 1830, for example, Columbia, South Carolina, celebrated the Fourth on July 3 and in 1852, Marblehead, Massachusetts, also celebrated on July 3.

It was ex-Senator Robert C. Winthrop of Massachusetts who suggested that July 3 be substituted for July 5, when the Fourth fell on Sunday. In a letter he wrote in 1858 which was read on July 4 at a celebration in Boston, he stated his rationale:

You are aware that Washington, having arrived at Cambridge on the 2d, assumed command of the American Army for the first time on the 3d of July, 1775. Would it not be a most agreeable and worthy coincidence, if, when the intervention of a Sunday shall cut off the customary routine of these celebrations, we could combine the commemoration of those two great events: Washington taking command of the Army in 1775, and Congress declaring our Independence in 1776 (New York Times, 9 July 1858, 4)

In 1999, July 4th fell on a Sunday and when certain towns opted to celebrate on July 3rd, protests were heard. In Mesa, Arizona, where the Sertoma Club has staged an annual fireworks show for the last 35 years, they moved the event to Saturday causing hundreds of complaints. The Club “cited poor turnout and the reluctance of its Mormon members and volunteers to work when the holiday falls on a Sunday.” In Fairfax, Va., the parade and fireworks occurred on Saturday because it would have been difficult to get volunteers to work on Sunday. In Rockledge Borough, Pa., town officials held the city parade on Saturday in respect for Sunday church services. Some residents were angry about that.

Happy 4th of July!