A Town Named Santa Claus

Santa Claus, Indiana

Long before there were cars or vacations, there was Santa Claus, Indiana.

The town was originally named Santa Fee. When its citizens asked for a post office in 1856, they were told that Indiana already had a post office named Santa Fe and that if they wanted one they would have to change their town's name. "They wanted to keep the Santa," said the curator at the Santa Claus Museum, "and all they could think of was Santa Claus." But that's not a very magical story, so a tale developed that the new-name debate took place on Christmas Eve, and that it was interrupted when a door blew open and sleigh bells could be heard on the wind. "It's Santa Claus!" cried a child, and the town decided that indeed it was.

Santa Claus remained that way for decades of peaceful obscurity. Then in 1895 the Grinch-like Secretary of the Interior changed the name of the town to one word, Santaclaus, supposedly to conform to a nationwide standardization for place names. Town postmaster James Martin spent years trying to change it back, and in 1927 the town became Santa Claus again. This triggered publicity, an appearance in Robert Ripley's Believe it or Not! syndicated newspaper column, and a flood of children's letters.

The Postmaster General was furious (the more mail that came through, the more money postmaster Martin was paid) and he threatened to force yet another name change in 1931, but the public howled in protest and the threat was withdrawn. It was then announced that all letters to Santa -- which had previously been thrown away -- would now be routed to Santa Claus.

In 1935 two attractions arrived in Santa Claus to try and mine its Christmas gold: Santa Claus Town and arch-rival Santa Claus Park. Their owners succeeded only in destroying each other. In 1946 a new attraction opened, Santa Claus Land, which survived and is technically the oldest theme park in the world -- although its name is now Holiday World and Splashin' Safari and it makes Santa share billing with Halloween, the 4th of July, and Thanksgiving.

Melting Snowman at a miniature golf course.

The Santa Claus post office still earns its stripes at Christmastime, postmarking a half-million holiday cards and answering roughly 20,000 letters from children (Santa's address is 45 North Kringle Place, Santa Claus, IN 47579, in case your kids ask). But the days when Santa could take the summer off are over, and Santa Claus has had to adjust to a world in which people want Christmas all year long.

The local motel, Santa's Lodge, features two 12-foot-tall fiberglass Santas on its lawn, and the town fire trucks have been dubbed Rudolph, Dasher, and Blitzen. But a housing community on the south side of town -- Christmas Lake Village -- is off-limits behind security gates. On the north side, Holiday Village has streets such as North Pole Lane and Blitzen Blvd, but also New Year's Eve Rd, Inauguration Day, and Easter Drive. Holiday World is closed on Christmas.

What town is this -- Santa Claus or Santa Fee? Diversity is nice, but not in a town named Santa Claus.

Worth a trip to Santa Claus, Indiana:
Santa Claus Museum | Original Santa Claus Statue | Candy Castle | Drippy Snowman