Oklahoma was the last U.S. state to declare Christmas an official holiday.
Oklahoma recognized Christmas as a legal holiday in 1907, the same year it entered the Union as the nation’s 46th state. That timing is important: Oklahoma was newly organized from Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory, so it did not have the long state legislative history of older states that had already designated Christmas.
Alabama is commonly credited with being the first state to make Christmas a legal holiday, doing so in 1836. Other states gradually followed during the nineteenth century, while Christmas also became a federal holiday in 1870 for federal employees in Washington, D.C., and certain federal institutions.
“Official holiday” usually means a legal or public holiday established by state law, not simply a day when many businesses or churches traditionally close. Oklahoma’s designation therefore concerns the state’s legal calendar. Today, Christmas is observed as a state holiday throughout the United States, although exact workplace and business rules can vary.