Palm Beach’s Town Hall will be closed June 19 as the town commemorates Juneteenth, the holiday that marks the end of slavery in the United States.
All town offices will be closed, and construction and landscaping work will not be allowed, Palm Beach said in an alert.
Lifeguards, however, will be on duty at public beaches from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the town said.
Also, the Par 3 Golf Course will be open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., the Seaview Tennis Center from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., the Mandel Recreation Center from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. and the Marina from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The tennis facilities at Phipps Ocean Park are closed amid a $31 million redevelopment of the entire park.
Garbage, recycling and trash collection will not be affected by the holiday, the town said.
Juneteenth was the first federal holiday to be signed into legislation in the 21st century, making it the youngest holiday in the U.S. It was signed into law in 2021 by President Joe Biden.
It marks the moment on June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they were free. Union soldiers told them that President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation two years earlier.
The holiday’s name is short for June nineteenth.
USA Today contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach town offices to close for Juneteenth holiday
Reporting by Kristina Webb, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
