Figure 1.--Santa Claus Indiana is today a year-round holiay theme area. Children and prents can enjoy a bit of Christms whenever they want to, including the summer. There are also a wide range of other activitis and evnts tailored to every season. These children are having a little bit of Chtistmas during the family's summer vacation in the 1950s.

Santa Claus, Indiana famous for its Christmas theme and is today a year round venue for family Christmas fun. It is located in southwestern Indiana close to the Ohio River. Attractions include Holiday World, Santa's Candy Castle, Santa Claus Museum, Santa Claus Church, Santa Claus Post Office, a Santa Claus statue, Holiday World & Splashin' Safari, Frosty's Fun Center, Christmas Lake Golf Course, and Santa's Stables. Accomodations include Santa's Lodge and Lake Rudolph Campground & RV Resort. The origin of the name is lost to history. The town was founded as Santa Fe (1854). They immeditely applied for a post office, but the U.S. Post Office (USPO) insisted they choose another name because there was already a Santa Fe, Indiana. A town meeting was held and after some deliberation they decided on keeping the Santa and replacunf Fe with Claus. No one today knows why, but we suspect it was to irritate the USPO. The USPO, however, did not bat an eye. What was not on anyone's mind was to create a theme attraction--such things did not exist in the 1850s. And for decides. Santa Claus was just another, unexceptionl small town in Indiana. Over time as children began writing to Santa Claus in the late-19th century, some of those letters began arriving at the Santa Claus, Indiana post office. Eventually vounteers in the town organized to begin answering back. This was a tradition that was established by the time of World War I. Postmaster James Martin began promoting a Santa Claus postmark (1928). (Local high school students design a new post mark every year.) Beause of the volume of mail, the USPS decided not to approve another Santa Claus post office in any other state. It is at this point that that cxartoonist Robert Ripley featured the town's post office in his nationally syndicated 'Ripley's Believe It or Not!' (1929). This of course increased the volume of Christmas letters. And outside entrepreneuers began building the attractions we see today. Santa Claus is located near another major attraction--the Abraham Lincoln boyhood home.

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Created: 2:36 PM 9/26/2017
Last updated: 2:37 PM 9/26/2017