Columbus Day is the time set aside each year to recognize Italian explorer Christopher Columbus making landfall in the Americans in 1492. It is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October which falls on Oct. 10th this year.

Columbus Day has become a controversial holiday in recent years. Native Americans and other groups have protested the idea of celebrating an event that marks the start of the colonization of the Americas and the displacement of indigenous people. Columbus Day has been replaced with other holidays in some areas, including Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon and South Dakota, which commemorate Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples Day.

In Alabama, the day is officially celebrated as three holidays: Columbus Day, American Indian Heritage Day and Fraternal Day.

Columbus Day

The first Columbus Day celebration in the U.S. took place in 1792, when a group of leaders in New York held an event to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the explorer’s historic landing. Similar events continued through the year until 1892, when President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation asking that Americans celebrate Columbus during a holiday in which they “cease from toil and devote themselves to such exercises as may best express honor to the discoverer and their appreciation of the great achievements of the four completed centuries of American life.”

President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Columbus Day a national holiday in 1937. The day was originally celebrated every Oct. 12 but was changed to the second Monday in October beginning in 1971 with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.

Here’s a look at what’s open and what’s closed on Columbus Day 2021:

• Federal offices are closed. Columbus Day is the eighth of 11 federal holidays in 2022, with Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas remaining.
• Many banks and credit unions are closed, check with your local branch. Federal Reserve Banks will be closed.
• U.S. Post Office will not deliver mail, post offices are closed.
• UPS and FedEx are open.
• Alabama state offices and courts are closed; Columbus Day is one of 13 state holidays.
• Many county, city offices remain open. Birmingham City, Huntsville City and Mobile City are open.
• Redstone Arsenal and Marshall Space Flight Centers are closed. Gates will be accessible based on holiday/weekend schedule.
• ABC Stores are open.
• Stock markets (New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq) are open.
• Restaurants, malls, movie theaters – Almost all restaurants, malls and movie theaters are open.
• National Parks are open.
• Most libraries will be closed.
• Most department stores and restaurants will be open.
• Grocery stores will be open. Walmart and Target are open with regular hours.
• Garbage and recycling collection may be on an altered schedule. Check with your local provider for service changes.
• School schedules vary. You can read more here.

The next federal holiday is Veterans Day on Friday, Nov. 11, which will be observed on The two other remaining federal holidays are Thanksgiving Day on Nov. 24 and Christmas Day on Dec. 25.