Juneteenth closures Monday
Many city and county offices as well as U.S. post offices and banks across the Highland Lakes will be closed in observance of Juneteenth on Monday, June 19. Established in 2021, the newest federal holiday commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.
City offices in Bertram, Burnet, Horseshoe Bay, and Meadowlakes will remain open. Texas Department of Motor Vehicles offices will be closed and U.S. mail service will not run on Monday.
Most local banks also will be closed; however, ATM machines will remain operational.
Grocery stores and restaurants will maintain normal business hours.
A celebration of the holiday is planned at St. Frederick’s Baptist Church in Marble Falls on Saturday, June 17.
JUNETEENTH HISTORY
Juneteenth celebrates the day — June 19, 1865 — that slaves in Galveston, Texas, first heard they were free, 2½ years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation declaring an end to slavery in the United States.
While the holiday has been celebrated by Black Americans since 1866, it wasn’t recognized as a state holiday until Texas did so in 1979.
The day was officially recognized as the 11th federal holiday on June 17, 2021.