Memorial Day

Memorial Day was first observed in 1868, called Decoration Day at the time, as families would decorate with flowers the graves of loved ones who fell during the Civil War. On many occasions following these decoration ceremonies, picnics would take place on the cemetery grounds by that loved one’s grave.

Which town is credited with observing the first Memorial/Decoration Day?
The first soldier’s grave to be decorated with flowers occurred on June 3, 1861 in Warrenton, Virginia. However, this town is not considered the first to have actually celebrated the holiday, as it was a single grave decorated rather than a ceremony in which all graves were.

When Memorial/Decoration Day was first observed in 1868, more than 20 towns throughout the country claimed they were the first in which the holiday was celebrated.

Boalsburg, Pennsylvania claimed a gathering of women held a ceremony in 1864 to mourn those killed at Gettysburg.
Carbondale, Illinois claimed to be the first to hold a parade in 1866, led by former Union General, and now political leader, John Logan, who was said to be responsible for the establishment of Memorial/Decoration Day in 1868.
Columbus, Mississippi and Columbus, Georgia have been debating amongst each other since 1868 over which Columbus observed Memorial Day first.
However, the United States Congress only recognizes one town as the first to observe Memorial Day. That town is Waterloo, New York.

Though other towns may have indeed held ceremonies before Waterloo did, it was Waterloo who was the first town to close businesses on their own day of Memorial Day ceremonies. With businesses closed for the day, town residents decorated soldiers’ graves and filled the streets for a community-wide celebration, the first time an entire town got together to honor the fallen.

The first image below is a late 1860s Harper’s Weekly engraving depicting graves being decorated with flowers in Long Island’s Cypress Hill Cemetery. The second image is one of the first Decoration/Memorial Day parades, this one in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1870.