how long has groundhog day been a thing

Groundhog Day has been “a thing” in the U.S. since the late 1800s, but its roots go back many centuries to old European spring‑watching traditions.

Quick Scoop: How long has Groundhog Day been around?

• The first official Groundhog Day celebration in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, was held in 1887, organized by local enthusiasts who formed what became the Groundhog Club.

• That means the modern, organized event has been going on for about 140 years (late 19th century to now).

• However, the idea behind it – using animals coming out of hibernation to predict the shift from winter to spring – goes back to ancient European weather lore and pre‑Christian seasonal festivals.

• In Europe it was often about badgers or bears, not groundhogs, and it got blended with the Christian holiday Candlemas on February 2, which also involved weather sayings about how long winter would last.

• German-speaking immigrants (the Pennsylvania Dutch) brought this Candlemas/animal‑weather tradition to Pennsylvania in the 18th–19th centuries and eventually swapped in the local groundhog, turning it into the version we know as Groundhog Day.

So: officially a U.S. holiday since the 1880s, but as a seasonal “is winter almost over?” tradition, people have been doing some version of it for many hundreds of years. 🦫❄️➡️🌱

TL;DR:
Modern Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney started in 1887, but it’s built on much older German and Celtic customs tied to Candlemas and watching animals to predict the arrival of spring.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.