Photo courtesy of the Spencer County Visitors Bureau
The residents of Santa Claus, Indiana, stay in high spirits year-round
Words by Sarah Mattes
From Santa’s Stables to Santa’s Candy Castle, the jolly man’s namesake is unmistakable in the small rural town of Santa Claus, Indiana. For over 160 years, this Midwestern town has been sharing the jovial man and the holiday that celebrates him with families from across the country.
While trying to establish a community post office, the people of then Santa Fe needed to rename their town and could not agree on one.
“It was Christmas Eve, the [townspeople] met in a log church for a Christmas service, and after the program was over, the adults met and decided we have to figure this [naming situation] out,” said Melissa Brockman, executive director of the Spencer County Visitor’s Bureau. “The kids were running around playing when a gust of wind blew open the church doors, and they heard jingle bells, so the kids said, ‘Santa Claus,’ and the adults said, ‘That’s right. Santa Claus, Indiana, it is.’”
The post office opened, and letters began to flood in. Children from across the globe sent letters and Christmas lists to Santa using Santa Claus, Indiana, as his address, of course. The postmaster at that time hated to see the children go unanswered, so he decided that every letter mailed to the Santa Claus post office would receive a response from Santa himself. To this day, any child that mails a letter to Santa Claus in Santa Claus will receive a letter back, making this the longest-lasting tradition in the little town.
