Annually, the Columbus Day parade draws nearly a million viewers to Fifth Avenue, but that’s nothing compared to the festivities of 1892, when New Yorkers celebrated the 400th anniversary of the Italian explorer’s Caribbean landing for seven full days.
Columbus Week was a completely decked out party with a Hudson River naval parade, Brooklyn Bridge fireworks, a music festival, and the first Columbus Day Parade, which consisted of 12,000 public school children, 5,500 Catholic school children, military drill squads, and 29 marching bands.
