Columbus Day 2019: What’s Open, What's Closed In Fredericksburg

FREDERICKSBURG, VA — While the City of Fredericksburg will remain open, many entities plan to recognize the federal holiday Columbus Day on Monday, Oct. 14. Some government offices, area schools and other services will be closed. Other services may be open or run on a different schedule.

Here's a look at what's open and closed around Fredericksburg:

Fredericksburg City Offices: All Fredericksburg city offices will be open regular hours.

Post offices and mail: Closed on Oct. 14

Fredericksburg City Schools: Schools will be closed Oct. 14 for a teacher workday.

Stafford County Schools: Schools will be closed Oct. 14 for a professional day.

Spotsylvania County Schools: Schools will be closed Oct. 14 for professional planning and development.

Local and state courts: Circuit Court, General District Court and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court are closed on Oct. 14.

Virginia Railway Express: VRE does not operate on Columbus Day. For more information, visit www.vre.org.

Historic Sites and Museums: The Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania Visitor Center, in addition to the Stafford County Information Center at Belmont, will all be open. The Fredericksburg Area Museum, 907 Princess Anne St., also will be open.

Libraries: All branches of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library will be open.

Trash Collection: Curbside trash/recycling collection schedules will not be affected by the holiday.

Recycling/Landfill: The Belman Road Recycling Center and the Stafford Landfill will be open normal hours, 8 a.m. -4:30 p.m.

The History of Columbus Day

President Benjamin Harrison organized the first Columbus Day celebration in 1892 to mark the 400th anniversary of Columbus landing in the Americas. A little over 40 years later, in 1934, President Franklin Roosevelt made Columbus Day a national holiday.

In recent years, a collection of states and cities have chosen to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day, including: Minnesota, Vermont, San Francisco and Cincinnati.

A recent poll from College Pulse, a data and survey analytics company, found that 79 percent of 1,500 college students polled favored replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

On average, 88 percent of the students who identified as Democrats supported the name change, and only 22 percent of Republicans polled were in favor of swapping the names.