A man fishing at Jones Beach
Tuesday is the Fourth of July, Independence Day, in the United States, a federal holiday that celebrates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence after the Continental Congress declared the thirteen colonies in America to be a new and independent nation, no longer part of the British Empire.
This year’s holiday is just three years shy of the country’s semiquincentennial.
Because the holiday falls on a Tuesday, many people are taking a four- if not five-day weekend to start their summer holidays.
Meanwhile, there will be a marked return to a high degree of normalcy in holiday observances when compared to how the Fourth was celebrated in 2020.
The holiday is associated with family picnics, barbecues, fireworks, parades, and baseball games among other festivities. John Adams, the country’s first vice president and second president, predicted that the day would be celebrated as a “great anniversary Festival” and he wanted it to be commemorated with “Pomp and Parade, with Shews [shows], Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more,” he wrote in a letter to his wife, Abigail Adams, on July 3, 1776.
As a footnote, both Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the nation’s third president, died on the same day, July 4, 1826.
When Adams died in Quincy, Massachusetts that day, the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, his last words were an acknowledgment of his longtime friend and rival. “Thomas Jefferson survives,” Adams said in his final words, unaware that Jefferson had died a few hours earlier the same day at Monticello.
Here’s what you need to know about what’s open for business and operating in the United States – and what isn’t – on Saturday, Sunfay, and Tuesday.
GOVERNMENT OFFICES
All Federal government offices are closed on Tuesday, as will be almost all city and state offices. State government office closures will vary by location. The same goes for local municipal offices.
POST OFFICE
Open on Saturday, closed Sunday and Tuesday. No regular mail delivery on Tuesday except for Priority Mail Express, formerly known as Express Mail. Regular service resumes on Wednesday.
BANKS
Financial institutions will be open on Saturday and closed on Sunday and Tuesday.
SHOPS AND MARKETS
Varies by store. Some may be open but have shorter hours.
SCHOOLS
Any that are holding classes currently will likely be closed Tuesday.
FINANCIAL MARKETS
The nation’s stock and bond markets will be closed on Tuesday.
TRANSPORTATION
Most local transportation systems, such as buses, subways, and commuter rail systems, will operate on Sunday or holiday schedules Tuesday. Airports are open although many flyers will apparently not make it to their destinations given the high number of flight delays and cancellations since the start of the current week. Expect traffic on highways leading to beaches.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
