INDIANAPOLIS – It’s not every day that Santa Claus winds up before a judge, but that’s exactly where the big man found himself some nine decades ago.
The story begins in 1854 when the southern Indiana town of Santa Fe was established. Two years later, when the Spencer County town about 40 miles east of Evansville was working to establish a post office, federal officials refused their first application, given there was already a Santa Fe, Indiana, in Miami County, in northern Indiana.
The town eventually decided on a new name, Santa Claus, and the U.S. Post Office Department gave the green light.
Because the town had — and continues to have — the world’s only post office to bear the name of the famous holiday figure, the local post office started receiving thousands of letters to Santa from across the world. A group of volunteers, “Santa’s Elves,” has ensured that each child receives a reply from Santa since at least 1914.
At its peak, the office managed almost three million letters to Santa, according to the Indiana Archives and Records Administration.
With the town’s fame came an interest from some to monetize the connection to Old Saint Nick.
That included Vincennes entrepreneur Milton Harris, who along with associate James Martin opened Santa’s Candy Castle in December 1935 — sponsored by the Curtiss Candy Company. The red-brick castle was the town’s first tourist attraction.
The story continues with commercialism, lawsuits, and a theme park that is now Holiday World. Read more here.