America's 250th Anniversary
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Watch Representative Kelly's video celebrating America's 250th anniversary.
On July 4, 2026, the United States of America will celebrate its 250th anniversary.
On this page, you can find some of Representative Kelly's legislation that supports this historic occasion and highlights Western Pennsylvania's role in American history.
Kelly aims to designate 'Washington's Trail' as national historic trail
- In 2025, Rep. Kelly introduced legislation that would direct the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to conduct a feasibility study to designate Washington's Trail as a national historic trail. Washington's Trail traces the steps George Washington traveled in 1753 on his way to Fort LeBoeuf in present-day Waterford, Pa., Erie County.
- Washington, a 21-year-old British officer at the time, was instructed to deliver a message to French forces, who had been constructing forts in this area.
- The Trail -- which includes portions of Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia -- crosses through Butler, Venango, Mercer, Crawford, and Erie counties. In May 2026, U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) introduced the Senate companion to Rep. Kelly's legislation.
- Learn more about the legislation here.
Rep. Kelly legislation dedicates U.S. Post Office in Titusville after Edwin Drake
- In 2025, Rep. Kelly's legislation to rename the U.S. Post Office in Titusville, Crawford County, after Edwin Drake was signed into law. Mr. Drake is credited as the "father of the American oil industry."
- In 1859, Drake became the first person to use an iron pipe to drill for oil. His “drive pipe” quickly produced between 20-40 barrels daily, using all the whiskey barrels in Titusville. Drake’s oil well started the Pennsylvania oil rush in 1859. The Titusville oil well launched an economic revolution in Western Pennsylvania that would change economies worldwide.
- Learn more about the legislation here.
Rep. Kelly dedicates Butler Post Office in honor of local Civil War hero Andrew Gomer Williams
- In 2023, Rep. Kelly joined officials from the U.S. Postal Service to dedicate the U.S. Post Office in Butler, Butler County, in honor of local Civil War hero Andrew Gomer Williams.
- In 2022, Kelly's legislation was unanimously passed by both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate before it was signed into law in 2022.
- According to Butler historian Bill May, Andrew Gomer Williams enlisted in the Union Army in 1861 at the age of 21 with the assignment to help raise three companies of men in the newly created 63rd PA Volunteers. He was soon promoted to the rank of Captain of Company E of the 63rd PA Volunteers. Mr. Williams led his company in over a dozen battles, ultimately being wounded four times, including in 1863 when he was thought to have been killed in action. However, four days later, he was miraculously found alive on the battlefield. He then carried out the rest of his service alongside his regiment until August 6, 1864.
Kelly-backed legislation to honor Benjamin Franklin passes U.S. House of Representatives
- In 2025, Rep. Kelly co-sponsored the Benjamin Franklin Statue Placement Act, legislation which aims to recognize Benjamin Franklin’s immeasurable impact on the nation’s founding by placing a statue of him along the U.S. Capitol Tour route. The legislation passed the U.S. House of Representatives in 2025. It remains in the U.S. Senate for consideration.
- The legislation would place a statue of Franklin in the Capitol before the end of 2026, which coincides with America’s 250th anniversary.
- Franklin was an important statesman and diplomat, in addition to his notable scientific contributions, such as discovering that lightning was electricity. Franklin played an essential role in the American Revolution and the founding of the nation. He negotiated the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War and helped draft the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Franklin was the only founding father to sign all three of these documents, formally separating America from Britain. He also served as the first Postmaster General of the United States, appointed in 1775.
- Franklin's Pennsylvania roots run deep -- He was instrumental in founding and shaping what became the University of Pennsylvania; he bought and published the Pennsylvania Gazette at age 23 and even served as President of Pennsylvania’s Supreme Executive Council, the present-day equivalent of the governor, from 1785 to 1788.
Check back for more information as America's 250th anniversary nears!