I found this announcement in the Catawba Journal from July 4, 1826, about the town of Lincolnton’s celebration of the Fourth of July. Fireworks and parades were not on the agenda — quite the opposite. The organizers wrote that “economy ought to characterize the celebration of the 4th of July, and that extravagance is contrary to the republican simplicity and patriotic spirit of ’76: therefore, a dinner will be furnished at a very moderate price, so that all may unite in feasting together on this glorious occasion.”