Presidents Day on Monday is a federal holiday, but that doesn’t mean every government office in Pennsylvania will automatically be closed. It’s best to check with your local municipality for details.
All Pennsylvania state offices are closed, as are all county offices in the greater Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas. Essential offices, like 911 dispatch and other emergency services, will remain open.
Most public schools are also closed on Presidents Day, and many Pennsylvania schools are closed Friday as part of a staff professional day, giving some districts a long weekend. The only districts that may be open are schools that need to make up a snow day, but these are few and far between.
If you need to run to the DMV or take care of any other government business, you may find the doors locked and lights off. Most states, including Pennsylvania, make Presidents Day a holiday for workers, with exceptions including those who perform essential services. Even in states that recognize Presidents Day as a holiday, not all counties and cities give workers a day off.
Banks, the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, and bond markets will be closed. So will the U.S. Postal Service. Unless they’re typically closed on Mondays, most retail stores will be open as usual. The same goes for restaurants and bars. Some non-retail businesses will be closed, including Patch Media.
Here’s a look at what’s open and closed, schedule changes, and other things to know about Presidents Day in Pennsylvania:
Government offices: Nearly all municipal and county offices across Pennsylvania are closed, and all state offices are closed.
Trash collection: most municipalities in Pennsylvania have canceled trash pickup and delayed their schedule by one day for the rest of the week, but it’s best to check with your local government.
Meal sites: The Philly Region’s Share Food Program is open as usual on President’s Day. While Philabundance’s offices are closed, their Community Kitchen and other essential services remain open.
Presidents Day is the first free-admission day for national parks of 2026. The day kicks off a revised, more “patriotic” schedule of free entrance days for the year, with notable exceptions of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth. Flag Day on June 14, which is also President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday, was added to the schedule of fee-free admission days. Under another change this year, only U.S. citizens and residents.
The National Park Service manages more than 430 designated sites, including national parks, monuments, battlefields, historic sites, lakeshores, and recreation areas. Some places to consider in Pennsylvania include:
For a full list of Park Service owned sites in Pennsylvania, see here.
The upcoming holiday is legally known as Washington’s Birthday, which was celebrated on Feb. 22 until it was moved to the third Monday in February under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which took effect in 1971.
Although the name of the holiday was never officially changed, it became known in the 1980s as Presidents Day, a celebration not just of a single president but of the office of the presidency. Many people also regard it as a holiday honoring both Washington’s birthday on Feb. 22 and President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday on Feb. 12.