MLK Day 2020: Here’s What’s Open, Closed In Howard County

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Martin Luther King Jr. Day falls on Monday, Jan. 20, this year, and a variety of services will be closed in Howard County that day.

King’s birthday is Jan. 15, but the federal holiday celebrating the civil rights leader is observed on the third Monday of January each year.

Howard County government offices, courts, 50+ centers and the animal shelters will be closed in observance of the holiday. While county parks, community centers, Cedar Lane and Schooley Mill Activity Rooms, and the Meadowbrook Athletic Complex will be open, the Robinson Nature Center and Ellicott City B&O Station Museum will be closed on Monday. In addition, the county’s restored Ellicott City Colored School will be open Jan. 20; however, all other recreation and parks’ historic sites remain closed for the season and will not reopen until April.

Here’s a breakdown of how the holiday could impact your routine.

• Howard County Government Offices: Closed

• Howard County Public Schools: Closed

• Howard County Public Library: Closed

• Post Offices: Closed

• State Courts: Closed

Transportation:

• Regional Transportation Agency will be operating on a normal schedule

Trash and recycling:

• Regular pick-up schedule

The history of the MLK holiday in America is a complicated one.

Almost immediately after King’s assassination in 1968, activists began pushing for a holiday celebrating his Jan. 15 birthday. However, the official national holiday wasn’t signed into law until 1983 by President Ronald Reagan.

The first federal MLK Day was observed on the third Monday of January in 1986, but many states held out. Arizona didn’t recognize the day until 1992, when the state lost its rights to host the Super Bowl after voters in Arizona failed to make the day a paid holiday.

The last state to adopt the holiday? New Hampshire, in 1999.