The Fourth of July has always been a festive event in Lancaster. To celebrate this year’s Fourth of July, we are taking a look back in time to some of the various Fourth of July celebrations hosted throughout Lancaster’s history.
Some of the featured attractions of Lancaster’s Fourth of July events have included children’s games, local bands playing patriotic songs, community picnics, baseball games, wrestling matches, and horse races. As the day came to an end, the celebration would conclude with a large community dance. People would come from afar to celebrate with local residents, traveling up to 50-miles just to participate in the events.
The Fourth of July horse races were always one of the most popular attractions. Riders would race bareback for a quarter-mile stretch along Tenth Street (present-day Lancaster Boulevard), heading westward starting on Antelope Avenue (present-day Sierra Highway) to Date Avenue and back.
"Gurba, Norma H. Lancaster. Arcadia, 2005.
Photo courtesy of MOAH Collections"
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