The Town of Yarrow Point will be closed Monday, May 29th, in observance of Memorial Day. We recognize and honor those American Servicemen and Servicewomen who paid the ultimate price for our freedom. We recognize and honor the sacrifice of those fallen soldiers’ spouses as well. Town Hall will reopen regular hours Tuesday, May 30th.
Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868,
the head of an organization of Union veterans — the
Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) — established
Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the
graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A.
Logan declared it should be May 30. It is believed the
date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all
over the country.
The first large observance was held that year at Arlington National Cemetery, across
the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The ceremonies centered around the
mourning- draped veranda of the Arlington mansion, once the home of Gen. Robert E.
Lee. Various Washington officials, including Gen. and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, presided
over the ceremonies. After speeches, children from the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphan
Home and members of the GAR made their way through the cemetery, strewing flowers
on both Union and Confederate graves, reciting prayers and singing hymns.