Government Recognition

Labor Day gained popularity very quickly and by 1885, several city governments have called for local observances.

Oregon was the first state to adopt a Labor Day law on February 2, 1887. Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York followed in the same year. By 1894, 23 other states joined.

On June 28, 1894, the act was passed to make the first Monday in September a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories.