The Town of Christmas

Christmas, Florida

Christmas, Florida, is a strip of Highway 50, east of Orlando, with a post office -- including a special mail slot for Santa -- and a number of local attempts at the theme, such as streets named after Santa's reindeer. It was originally named Fort Christmas -- the name was chosen on Christmas day -- but the town dropped the "Fort" when the post office opened in 1892. The appeal of a letter postmarked from Christmas was apparent even then.

At the intersection of Highway 50 and Fort Christmas Road stands a year-round Christmas tree. For years it had a sign -- "The permanent Christmas tree at Christmas Florida is the symbol of love and good will; the Christmas Spirit every day in the year." -- and was accompanied by a small, painted concrete Santa Claus, an equally small redwood sleigh and reindeer, and a nativity scene. In 2022 the tree and nativity were moved across the road, but Santa, the sleigh, and reindeer disappeared.