On a cold and blustery winter night in 1855 in southern Indiana, citizens of a village with no name had gathered inside the local church. They had just been informed that their requested name, Santa Fe, could not be approved by the postmaster general because there was already a Santa Fe, Indiana.
The village had been around for several years without a post office. During that time, locals had to travel to the nearby town of Dale to retrieve their mail. A night like this was a reminder that traveling for mail was more than an inconvenience—it could be quite dangerous. A name needed to be agreed upon, but that was easier said than done.
Around the church’s potbelly stove, locals warmed their hands and bodies as best they could, and worked even harder to warm up to a new name. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew open the door of the church. Snowflakes rushed in and, intriguingly, there was the sound of jingle bells. The children inside the church rushed to the opening, peering into the dark night sky. It was Christmas Eve and the sound they heard could only mean one thing: “Santa Claus! Santa Claus!”
On May 21 of the following year, the innominate Indiana village finally received confirmation from the United States Post Office Department (USPOD) that their suggested name had been accepted. Santa Claus, Indiana, was officially established.
Santa Claus Writes Back
As the decades progressed, the Christmas persona of Santa Claus grew exponentially, while the town of Santa Claus remained small. As the 19th century gave way to the 20th, the town hardly personified its name. It wasn’t that the locals didn’t celebrate Christmas. But there were no images of jolly Old St. Nick, flying reindeer, wreaths, Christmas trees, or the color coordination of red and white. This little misnomer, however, was soon to change.The post office in Santa Claus began receiving letters that should have been sent to a different location very far away, that is, to Santa’s workshop at the North Pole. Louis Martin held the position of postmaster from 1903 to 1914. His son, James, was his assistant. It may have been during this time that James got the idea to respond to these letters. When James became the town’s 14th postmaster on May 18, 1914, he set into motion a chain of events reminiscent of those in “Miracle on 34th Street.”
For the next 21 years, James Martin and several assistants wrote back to countless children who sent their Santa letters to his post office (as long as there was a return address). Many of these letters were not addressed to Santa Claus, Indiana. But for mail clerks across the country, the name Santa Claus on the envelope was enough to have the letter forwarded to the small town with the growing holiday spirit.
The number of letters dramatically increased when Santa Claus, Indiana, was highlighted in the weekly newspaper panel of “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” on Jan. 7, 1930. Despite the national strain from the first year of the Great Depression, the glee children felt believing Santa Claus was writing back resulted in a flood of letters and parcels to Martin’s post office that 1930 Christmas season.
A Threat to the Name
In 1932, the USPOD in Washington began making plans to alleviate the strain taking place at the small post office in southern Indiana. Perhaps it was time to change the name of the town. The threat of renaming the now famous small town, however, caused an outcry across the country, and specifically in Santa Claus. The town locals and Indianians contacted their representatives, Sen. James Watson and Congressman John Boehne.Opportunity and Lawsuits
The holiday connection to the small town garnered the attention of entrepreneurs and corporations. In 1932, Milton Harris, an entrepreneur from Vincennes, Indiana, leased land around the small town to open up its first tourist attraction.With Curtiss Candy Company, known for Baby Ruth and Butterfinger, as a sponsor, Santa’s Candy Castle, a small castle with a slightly European architectural flair, opened in 1935. A year later, Harris added a Christmas village that included eight miniature buildings called Santa’s Workshop and Toy Village, with the Santa’s Candy Castle at the center. Harris called the attraction Santa Claus Town.
The development, unfortunately, resulted in a legal battle with Carl Barrett, a Chicago businessman. Barrett began his holiday business ventures shortly after Harris. As a sign of things to come, the same day Harris opened Santa’s Candy Castle, Barrett unveiled a 22-foot statue of Santa atop the area’s highest hill. Additionally, he built Santa Claus Park, now the location of Santa Claus Museum & Village.
The court sided with Harris, awarding him $5,100 in damages as well as lease rights for the next 25 years. But the legal battle had only just begun, eventually going to the Indiana Supreme Court in May of 1940.
Although the Supreme Court ruled in Harris’s favor, it wasn’t a complete victory for him. His damages were reduced, and the initial quiet title action was removed. Despite the courts continuing to rule in Harris’s favor, it did not stop what appeared to become a vendetta on behalf of Barrett.
The First of Its Kind
The lawsuits, depression, and war effort had taken its toll on the joy behind the town’s namesake. Nonetheless, while the war was ongoing, Louis J. Koch, a retired industrialist and father of nine children from nearby Evansville, Indiana, saw great opportunity in Santa Claus, Indiana.“I remember my father saying that the town is named Santa Claus and that there should be something more for children,” recalled Katheryne Bosse, Koch’s daughter.
Koch got to work on his plan to create a Santa-themed amusement park, which would include a restaurant, rides, a toy shop, toy displays, and a large Santa Claus. It was during this week in history on Aug. 4, 1945, about a month before the Japanese surrendered to officially end World War II, that construction began on Koch’s large retirement project.
When his son, Bill, returned from the war, he had major reservations about the park. Construction continued anyway over the course of the year. It was during this week in history as well, on Aug. 3, 1946, that Santa Claus Land opened with a very historical distinction. It was the world’s first theme park—predating Disneyland by nearly a decade.
For nearly the next 40 years, until the Reagan Administration, Santa Claus, Indiana, remained home to Santa Claus Land. In fact, Ronald Reagan paid a visit to the theme park in 1955. The park didn’t close, though. In 1984, Santa Claus Land added two new sections for Halloween and the Fourth of July. The theme park was renamed Holiday World. The following decade, in 1993, safari-themed water rides were added, and the park was renamed to Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari.
With new additions seemingly on an annual basis, Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari remains one of the most successful theme parks in the country, and, with it being the first, it is also the oldest.
