Presidents’ Day closures, presidential profiles
A painted portrait of George Washington (left) and a photo of Abraham Lincoln from the archives of the U.S. Congressional Library.
Most government offices, schools, banks, and post offices in the Highland Lakes will be closed in observance of Presidents’ Day on Monday, Feb. 19. The federal holiday celebrates the near birthdays of past presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
Some entities are open, however, including the Llano Independent School District and city offices in Marble Falls and Meadowlakes.
Closed are:
- Burnet Consolidated and Marble Falls ISDs
- Burnet and Llano county government offices
- City offices for Llano, Bertram, Horseshoe Bay, Highland Haven, and Sunrise Beach Village
- Banks
- Post offices
- Presidents’ Day history and profiles
Presidents’ Day falls on the third Monday in February and honors the birthdays of Washington and Lincoln. The holiday was created in 1885 specifically for Washington’s birthday on Feb. 22. The memory of Lincoln was still fresh in American minds in the late 1800s, and the day became a dual celebration of both presidents, with Lincoln’s birthday falling on Feb. 12.
The Uniform Monday Holiday Law, passed in 1971, shifted most holidays to the nearest Monday to ensure three-day weekends, which resulted in Presidents’ Day moving to the third Monday in February rather than Washington’s exact birthday.
Here are simple profiles of the legendary statesmen:
George Washington
Born on Feb. 22, 1732, in Westmoreland County, Virginia. Died on Dec. 14, 1799, at 67 in Mount Vernon, Virginia, due to medical complications from a throat infection.
He was married to Martha Washington for 40 years but had no children. Historians suggest that George’s bout with tuberculosis or Martha’s severe case of measles might have prevented them from conceiving. They did raise Martha’s two children from a previous marriage.
Washington was 6 feet 2 inches tall. The average height of an American man at the time is believed to have been 5-foot-9.
He had little formal education and was mostly self-taught and homeschooled by his mother, Mary Ball Washington.
Washington saw combat in the French and Indian War and personally led men into battle during the American Revolution.
Abraham Lincoln
Born on Feb. 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky, (now LaRue County). Died on April 15, 1865, in Washington, D.C., the first American president to be assassinated.
He was married to Mary Todd Lincoln for 23 years, and they had four sons together.
Lincoln is the tallest American president to date at 6 feet 4 inches (without the hat).
He, too, had little formal education and was mostly taught at home, but he did go on to become sufficiently “learned” and work as a successful lawyer.
Lincoln volunteered for the Illinois Militia during the Black Hawk War against a coalition of Native Americans and British but never actually saw combat.
He was a famously skilled wrestler and is said to have won over 300 no-rules matches and suffered just one defeat.