Most federal and Missouri state offices closed today for Columbus Day holiday

Today is Columbus Day, which is a federal, Missouri and county holiday.

Most federal, state and county offices are closed today in observance of the holiday, which celebrates the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas in 1492. It’s one of the 13 Missouri state holidays. Most of Jefferson City’s approximately 14,000 state employees have the day off.

County courthouses in all 114 Missouri counties are also closed today. The Missouri State Highway Patrol is open today, as are other emergency services like county Sheriff’s departments.

Banks and financial institutions are closed today, and there is no regular mail delivery. Regular mail delivery resumes tomorrow. Democratic President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed legislation into law in 1934, designating Columbus Day. President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed legislation into law in 1968, recognizing it as a federal holiday. The federal holiday has been observed on the second Monday in October since 1971.

Some cities around the nation observe today’s holiday as Indigenous People’s Day. The Boone County Commission’s weekly schedule says county offices are closed today “in observance of indigenous People’s Day.”