Santa Claus, Indiana

The village of Santa Claus lies in Spencer County, Indiana. In 1990 it had a population of 927. The ZIP code is 47579.

The community was laid out in 1846. The story of its naming may be a matter of local legend. On Christmas Eve of 1849, with the place yet unnamed, there was a combined town council meeting and Christmas Party. In the course of the party Santa Claus appeared with his bag of goodies. This inspired one of those present to suggest the name Santa Claus for the town, ant the motion was passed unanimously. Seven years later in 1856 the name was accepted by the Post Office Department, and the first post office was opened with John Specht as first postmaster.

Some years later the town's activities were moved two miles along the road to Santafee leaving behind only the Methodist church and the campground. The Post Office, however, did move and its postmarks continued to be used from the new location. The two communities were merged in the 1880s, retaining the Santa Claus name. In 1895 the Post Office name was changed to the one word "Santaclaus" but this was changed back in 1927.

In 1946 the retired industrialist Louis J. Koch set up Santa Claus Land, which is claimed to be the first theme park in the world. The parks name was changed to Holiday World in 1984. In 1993 water rides were added under the name Splashin' Safari. More recently the development of Christmas Lake Village as a gated retirement community has more the doubled the population of Sant Claus.