Contents: The History of Santa Claus, Indiana | Dear Santa | Breaking Ground on a New Land | Santa Claus Museum & Village
The History of Santa Claus, Indiana
It begins with a post office, or well, a need for a post office. It actually begins with more than the need for a post office, but it is where a lot of the stories surrounding Santa Claus, Indiana start. It was a defining moment for them, how they went from Santa Fee, Indiana (yes, Santa Fee) to Santa Claus. The small, southern farming Indiana town was denied a post office due to their name being too similar to Santa Fe, Indiana and the government decided it would be too confusing and cause too many problems. “Choose another name,” the townspeople were told, so they got to work as good farmers do.
There are many legends and myths surrounding how exactly Santa Claus, Indiana became Santa Claus. But the most popular and well known tale is this: The townspeople gathered in a small church on Christmas Eve to discuss the new name. Wind blew through the church, opening the door, which allowed for the people to hear the sound of sleigh bells coming from outside. While there was no sleigh in sight, the children started to yell “It’s Santa Claus!” All of this excitement made it easy for the town leaders to declare that Santa Claus would be a good name for their home. The Post Office Department approved of this new name in 1856 and to make the name even sweeter, the postmaster of Fulda, Indiana, who helped finalize the application had the perfect name: Nickolaus.
Dear Santa…
In 1914, the 14th Postmaster of Santa Claus, James Martin started responding to the letters children would write to Santa Claus that ended up on his desk. This caught the attention of Robert Ripley of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not and featured the town and what Martin was doing in his publication in 1930. Soon thousands of letters to Santa arrived in Indiana. Martin had his work cut out for him!
These letters weren’t just from children in Indiana, or the United States, but all over the world. Some of the earliest letters in the museum’s collection are from 1935. When reading them over, you can see the struggles caused by the Great Depression with what the children say to Santa. One child mentions her father only works one day a week and would appreciate a bed to sleep on.
The American Legion in southern Indiana soon jumped on board to help the post office with their replies. Led by Jim Yellig, the Santa Claus of Santa Claus, Indiana (and beyond) worked with the men at the Legion to make sure no letter was left behind.
Writing letters to Santa wasn’t just for children! Adults would write in as well, asking for Santa to write back to their child or a child they know because of how much joy it would bring them when they knew their stockings would not be full. There was even a woman who wrote in from Ohio asking for a Santa of her own. Which garnered a few different responses from interested parties…You can read the Ohio Widow’s letter and newspaper clipping in Letters to Santa Claus: The Elves by Pat Koch and Emily Weisner Thompson by IU Press.
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Breaking Ground on a New Land
Santa Claus Land opened August 3, 1946 and became the country’s first themed amusement park. Louis J. Koch had envisioned the park as his retirement project. It contained attractions like a miniature circus, the House of Dolls, and of course it wouldn’t be complete without Mr. St. Nick himself! In 1956 the park went under major expansion. They maintained the famous Toyland Exhibit from their predecessor, Santa Claus Town - created by Milton Harris in 1936, where kids once could watch Santa and his elves build toys (which was sponsored by America’s leadng toy manufacturers at the time). It was a needed space for children to be able to come and play for free during the Great Depression. But with Santa Claus Land’s renovation, they updated the Toyland Exhibit to showcase toys from around the world. The toys were hard to get at first, due to the world recovering from World War II. But once it opened, it was a hit. In 1948, Louis J. Koch’s son, Bill Koch, began operating Santa Claus Land full time.
In 1983, Santa Claus Land would be officially rebraned as Holiday World and would be the home to many groundbreaking wooden rollercoasters, like The Raven which took its first flight in 1995. In 1993 Holiday Workd expanded further. After the Koch family took their summer family vacations visiting amusement parks around the country, Will Koch (the son Bill and Pat Koch’s named president of Holiday work in 1988 at the age of 26), decided it was time to expand their attractions and create a water park. Splashin’ Safari premiered in 1993 with attractions like Crocodile Isle, AmaZOOM, and Bamboo Chute water slides. In 1994, The Wave pool was added to the water park. Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari continues to bring joy to families from all over the world who visit the small town of Santa Claus to partake in the festive theme park.
Santa Claus Museum & Village
Mrs. Pat Koch, daughter of Santa Claus Jim Yellig and wife of Bill Koch decided that the history of the town, of the theme park, and those who built it all, needed a place to house this history for people to come see and learn. In 2006, The Santa Claus Museum & Village was founded by Mrs. Koch. Near the theme park you can stop by and learn about the town and the park, see their collection of artifacts and documents related to the town, and write a letter to Santa Claus. And as long as you provide your full address, Santa’s elves will make sure you get a reply! Also within the village is the 1880 Santa Claus Church and original Santa Claus Post Office that started it all. Santa’s Elves is a non-profit group and they work out of the original post office, making sure every child gets a response from Santa. It has been important to Mrs. Koch to make sure the history is never forgotten. She and the museum staff have worked hard to make sure that the history of the town remains known for future generations and visitors to Santa Claus can help keep the magic alive for many more years to come.
Sources
Koch, P. and Weisner Thompson, E. (2013). Images of America: Santa Claus. Arcadia Publishing.
Futrell, J. et all. (2022). Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari: 75 Years of America’s First Theme Park. Quarry Books.