The Cedarville man who helped make Labor Day a national holiday

CEDARVILLE — Labor Day weekend is the unofficial end to summer, but many people don’t know that the holiday has a big connection to a small town in Greene County.

The town of Cedarville calls themselves “the home of Labor Day.”

Cedarville residents will tell you Labor Day came to be thanks to a Greene County man named James Kyle.

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Kyle was born in 1854 and lived in Cedarville until he was 11.

He served as the chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor and on Aug. 23 1893 introduced a bill that would recognize the first Monday in September of every year as “Labor’s Holiday.”

President Grover Cleveland signed the bill into law June 28, 1894, declaring Labor Day a national legal holiday.

The village celebrates the holiday each year with a community festival called “Cedarfest” from 8 a.m.- 10 p.m. Saturday through Monday.

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