The Home of Santa Claus – Santa Claus Land Indiana

Santa Claus, the name is synonymous to the festivities and occasion of Christmas. Christmas we know is celebrated to mark the birth of Jesus Christ. But one cannot imagine Christmas without Santa Claus.

It is Santa Claus who travels round the world distributing gifts to young boys and girls to mark the birth of Jesus Christ. Now, there is a place which is believed to be home of Father Christmas and is called the Santa Claus Land Indiana.

Apart from it being the name of an old man in red suit and black boots who rides a open sleigh pulled by eight reindeer’s, it is also the name of a town.

The Santa Claus Land Indiana is in Spencer county, in the state of Indiana, in the United States. It is small town that has many interesting facts and striking origins related to Santa Claus. History says that in the 1840, there was a group of German settlers who came to Spencer county. They went on to organise a small community in Southern Indiana’s Spencer County.

For the many years since then the place did not have a original name. So on a Christmas eve in the year 1852, the German settlers in the county decided to officially give it a name. Legend has it that after the Christmas eve services at the local church there was a town meeting held. The whole community was present for the meeting. As the meeting was on, suddenly a strong wind blew and it forced the church doors open. Suddenly every heard sleigh bells ringing and this led to the children yell out in excitement, “Its Santa Claus!” At last!. This struck everyone’s mind and the name was decided. Thus the name Santa Claus Land Indiana came into existence.

In the 1940’s, the world’s first theme park was built in the town by industrialist Louis J. Koch. Louis was a person who loved to holiday. He wanted children to visit the town and see that it was indeed the home of Santa Claus. This theme park was initially named as Santa Claus Land and today is popularly known as Holiday World & Splashin Safari.

Apart from this there are other popular attractions in Santa Claus Land Indiana. These are the ‘The Toy Village’ and ‘Santa’s Candy Castle’ which are among the most popular. Apart from these there are also Santa Claus Land, Christmas Lake Village and the very amazing and surprising Santa Claus Cemetery.

There is another interesting fact about Santa Claus Land Indiana and that is its post office. It has the uniqueness of the only post office in the world which bears the name of Santa Claus. It was in the 1920’s that Jim Martin, who was then the post master there noticed that all the letters to Santa Claus was being sent there. This is when he decided to answer all the letters which were sent by the children’s to Santa Claus. This practise was later continued in the year 1930 by then post master Jim Yellig.