It wasn’t until Santa Claus Postmaster James Martin began answering letters written to Saint Nick in the early 20 th century that the town began truly embracing its merry moniker. James Martin, courtesy of the International Santa Claus Hall of Fame.įor years, however, the strangely named town was just that – a town with a strange name. However it happened, the townsfolk eventually decided on Santa Claus as a replacement name, and the Santa Claus post office was officially established on May 21, 1856. However, it gives us an idea of why Santa Claus citizens themselves believe to be their origin story. This account is certainly embellished to some extent, seeing as the “ Christmas Star” (which appears in the sky every twenty years when Jupiter and Saturn align in the winter sky) made its last appearance in 2020 and did not, in fact, fall from the sky in 1855. Returning to the meeting, it seemed to most natural thing for all the folk to agree that the name Santa Fe should be changed to Santa Claus. They considered it an omen of good fortune.
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‘The Star, the Christmas star is falling! Everyone rushed out just in time to see a flaming mass shooting down from the heavens and crash into a low distant hill. While they were signing, the whole world outdoors became filled with an intense, blinding light, and a little boy came rushing in.
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Determined to get their post office just as quickly as possible, the citizens of Santa Fe decided to discuss the matter that very night, Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, a large white envelope with important seals arrived the day before Christmas to reveal that a town in Indiana already was named Santa Fe. On Christmas of 1855, everyone was greatly excited at the thought of going to their own brand new post office for their Christmas cards and gifts instead of having to ride to Dale. They applied for a post office to make it official. Several families settled in the area and decided that they should have a name for their community.
Santa claus indiana archive#
The Indiana State University Folklore Archive has preserved three versions of the story behind the name Santa Claus. But by the mid-nineteenth century when settlers decided to incorporate their new town, they did not originally pay such homage to the Christmas holiday.Īs with many place names, the origin of the name Santa Claus is mostly the stuff of legend. Crossing over from Kentucky, white settlers established permanent homes by 1810 in the Indiana territory near Rockport on the Ohio River, 17 miles southwest of modern-day Santa Claus. policy and the Treaty of Fort Wayne in 1803 and the Treaty of Vincennes in 1804 opened the land to white settlement. At the turn of the 19 th century, many of these tribes joined Tecumseh’s confederation to oppose white encroachment. The Shawnee, Miami, and Delaware tribes first stewarded the land that later became Spencer County. So, how did we get this intriguing sobriquet? Before we get there, we should cover some of the history of the area. But perhaps the most well-known idiosyncratic place name is Santa Claus in Spencer County, Indiana. Indiana has its fair share of uniquely named towns – Gnaw Bone, Popcorn, Pinhook, Needmore, and Pumpkin Center to name a few. “Nestled in the wooded hills of southern Indiana, lies a land of fantasy. Uebelhor Bayse Collection of the Indiana Album.
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Handpainted sign in for Santa Claus, Spencer County, Indiana, circa 1945, courtesy of the Tara L.