New Year’s Day 2026 will mark the beginning of the nation’s semiquincentennial, or 250th birthday year. Throughout U.S. history, each 50-year increment since the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 has sparked a year-long celebration. In many of these years, the nation’s birthday party kicked off with festivities on New Year’s Eve.

For the nation’s 200th birthday in 1976, a crowd of 40,000 people in Philadelphia started the year huddled outside in the frigid December weather to watch the nation’s most famous symbol of liberty slide down a ramp outside Independence Hall and roll by on a cart.

The historic move of the Liberty Bell from its home for the past 223 years to a new glass pavilion 100 yards away took place at midnight on New Year’s Eve to mark the start of the nation’s bicentennial celebration.

Although the Liberty Bill remained silent during its short journey, Indianapolis residents heard bells that evening. The Church Federation of Greater Indianapolis and the Knights of Columbus encouraged area churches to ring their bells continuously for 15 minutes at midnight as 1975 slipped into 1976 as a public expression of thankfulness for the freedom of worship guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and to celebrate the beginning of America’s 200th birthday year.

Offering a more secular way to ring in 1976, Indianapolis Jaycees hosted a $25-per-couple bicentennial party at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Attendees were treated to a bottle of champagne, breakfast and the chance to win a vacation at one of four historic East Coast cities. Prizes were awarded for “the most patriotic costume,” although what exactly constituted a patriotic costume was not outlined in the invitation.

The downtown Holiday Inn featured double rooms for only $17.76 on New Year’s Eve, plus a champagne buffet and dancing for an additional $2 per couple. Any guest who woke up on New Year’s Day 1976 with a hazy memory of the reason for the previous evening’s festivities would certainly have been reminded as soon as they saw the 333 bicentennial signs that had been installed on utility poles in the Mile Square by city workers on New Year’s Eve.

The celebrations marking the start of the nation’s sesquicentennial 50 years earlier were a little drier though no less festive on New Year’s Eve 1925. Prohibition was in effect, and two days before the holiday law enforcement officials raided 40 pool rooms, drug stores and other locations suspected of liquor violations. Indianapolis residents were warned that more arrests would follow on New Year’s Eve.

The crackdown on illegal drinking did not dampen the festivities in downtown Indianapolis. Approximately 1,200 people crowded into the Columbia Club for a dinner-dance, while a similar number partied at the Athletic Club. Some hotels hosted parties, and the Broadway Burlesque theater featured a midnight performance by the Red Hot Snappy Girly Girl Company.

But the highlight of New Year’s Eve 1925 was listening to the ringing of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia at the stroke of midnight to celebrate 150 years of American independence. Indianapolis stores experienced a run on radios during the Christmas season, and many local residents hosted radio parties in their homes where friends could dance to music, guzzle bootleg beverages, and hear the Liberty Bell ring.

Although the Liberty Bell was quiet on New Year’s Eve 1875, bells rang in Indianapolis to celebrate the first day of the nation’s centennial in 1876 after local leaders proposed “a general ringing of bells, firing of salutes, and flinging to the breeze the Stars and Stripes.”

The city’s businessmen were also invited to the Board of Trade at 10 a.m. on New Year’s Day 1876 “to celebrate by appropriate exercises” the start of the centennial year. Given the city’s abundance of taverns and saloons, it’s probably safe to say that the only sort of exercises that were appropriate for the morning after New Year’s Eve did not involve actual strenuous physical activity.

Libby Cierzniak is a retired attorney who has written extensively about Indianapolis history for HistoricIndianapolis.com and in her own blog, Indypolitan.com. She is a frequent guest on Hoosier History Live and a regular contributor to Retro Indy. Contact her via Indypolitan.com.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Many restaurants are closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but Indianapolis staple Asian Harbor has been in the city for 10 years, serving hungry customers during the holidays.

The restaurant was packed Wednesday night for Christmas Eve. The takeout line was no different. One customer after another poured in.

General Manager Tim Bay said, “I think it’s almost like an unwritten tradition to have Chinese (food) on Christmas Day. Believe it or not, Christmas Day and Christmas Eve are our busiest days.”

Bay said they fill 150 orders each on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. His uncle, who was dressed Wednesday in a red hoodie, owns the restaurant. Both he and Bay are immigrants from Mongolia and they now call Indianapolis home.

Bay said, “It’s like a blank slate, and we are adding our own culture to make it even richer.”

The back kitchen is where the magic happens. Cooks boiled noodles and vegetables, and fried up the crab rangoon.

Tim said Mongolian food has Chinese influences, and they’re leaning heavily toward that.

Monica Morrison picked up food for her grandma and herself, a tradition every Christmas Eve. “There’s nothing specific that we get, but we always have to get the crab rangoon. That’s the top thing. But we just try different dishes, different combos.”

Greg Moser on Wednesday brought his entire family, all three generations. He said its tradition that’s been passed down from Grandma. “The holidays can all be stressful, but when we can all come down and sit on a table it’s a sigh of relief. This is the last meal before the craziness of tomorrow morning when suddenly we’re opening all the presents and going to different places all at once. And we can sit down here, relax and have a meal together.”

A sticker on the front door reads “Proud Asian Owned.” Tim and his uncle also are proud Asian Americans giving back to their community. Bay said Indianapolis helped them reach their American dream. “You just have to give us a chance to prove that we’re all here for the American dream, we’re also American. We’re working toward one goal: to enrich this beautiful country to carry on and give more opportunity to the less fortunate.”