Happy 125th birthday, Yosemite!

Decked out in fall colors, Yosemite National Park celebrated its 125th birthday on Thursday.

Although President Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Grant Act on June 30, 1864, it took another 26 years for the area to become a national park.

President Benjamin Harrison signed legislation creating the national park – the nation’s third – in 1890. The establishment of Yosemite National Park preserved more than 748,036 acres (or 1,169 square miles), including Yosemite Valley, Tuolumne Meadows and the park’s high country.

Yosemite now gets about 4 million visitors a year.

Thursday’s event, held at the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center, included birthday cake and traditional Yosemite songs.

But it also had a historic feel with a visit from Yosemite’s Mounted Patrol, John Muir look-alike Lee Stetson portraying the famed naturalist and the creation of a special 125th Yosemite National Park anniversary time capsule.

Proclamations and resolutions honoring the park’s 125th anniversary were presented by elected officials from the federal, state and local levels.

Gabriel Lavan-Ying, 10, was made the event’s honorary ranger through the Make-A-Wish program.

Fourth-graders from throughout the central San Joaquin Valley and Yosemite gateway communities received free park passes through the Every Kid in a Park program to help them attend the event. Many shared homemade birthday cards.

This story was originally published October 1, 2015 at 6:34 PM with the headline "Happy 125th birthday, Yosemite!."