when did groundhog day start

Groundhog Day, as an official celebration in the United States, started in 1887 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

Quick Scoop: When did Groundhog Day start?

• The first official Groundhog Day was held on February 2, 1887, when a group in Punxsutawney went to Gobbler’s Knob to have a groundhog “predict” the weather.

• A local group (often linked to the early version of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club and community members like lodge members/Elks) organized that first trip and turned it into a yearly tradition.

• The idea itself is older: German settlers in Pennsylvania adapted European Candlemas weather lore (using hedgehogs back in Europe) and switched to the local groundhog as the forecasting animal.

• The earliest known American reference to this tradition in Pennsylvania dates to the 1840s–1841 in local notes/diaries, showing the belief was around before the 1887 “official” event.

So, people were doing Groundhog-style weather lore in Pennsylvania by the early 1840s, but the modern, famous Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney kicked off in 1887.

TL;DR: Informally in Pennsylvania German culture by the early 1840s, and formally as “Groundhog Day” in Punxsutawney in 1887.

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