Wayland Presidents Day 2022: What's Open, Closed

WAYLAND, MA — Banks, post offices and other services will be closed Monday for Presidents' Day, a holiday established by Congress decades ago to move the celebration of George Washington’s birthday to the third Monday of February.

The federal holiday coincides with mid-winter school break in Massachusetts. And although government and financial institutions will be off Monday, most retail stores will most likely be open. When in doubt, check ahead online.

Here's what will be open and closed in Wayland this year:

• Retail stores: Open
• Liquor stores: Open
• Supermarkets: Open
• Convenience stores: Open
• Restaurants, bars: Open
• Banks: Closed
• Stock market: Closed
• Municipal, state, federal offices: Closed
• Libraries: Closed
• Schools: Closed. Mid-winter recess lasts through Feb. 25.
• Mail: Post offices closed, no mail delivery.
• MBTA: Commuter rail is on a weekend service schedule.
• MWRTA buses: Normal schedule.
• Trash Collection: Typically delays one day. Wayland transfer station closed.

Presidents' Day doesn’t officially include Abraham Lincoln’s birthday on Feb. 12, which was celebrated by a handful of states.

The 16th U.S. president was born in 1809 in LaRue County, Kentucky, though his birth state isn’t one of the five — Lincoln’s adopted state of Illinois plus California, Connecticut, Missouri and New York — that observe his birthday as a holiday.

In the public consciousness, though, Lincoln’s birthday is spun in with that of the first U.S. president, George Washington, and is observed on the third Monday in February. This year, that’s on Feb. 21. Technically, though, the holiday observed on the third Monday of February commemorates Washington’s birth on Feb. 22, 1732.

The Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1971 doesn’t mention Lincoln’s birthday or even Presidents' Day. Some lawmakers argued during debate that Washington’s birthday should be renamed Presidents Day to include Lincoln, but Congress rejected that.

Before the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1971, Washington’s birthday was celebrated on the anniversary of his birth regardless of the day of the week.