America’s Christmas Hometown

A small community tucked into the hills of southern Indiana is not where travelers imagine holiday cheer is headquartered, but this town an hour east of Evansville lives up to the nickname “America’s Christmas Hometown” with streets like Christmas Boulevard and Mistletoe Drive. 

Images of the Jolly Old Elf appear on everything from lampposts to supermarket Coke machines. Add the world’s only Santa Claus post office and its signature Santa-themed postmark, and you’ve got a perfectly merry destination for sharing warmhearted holiday fun, embracing time-honored traditions and making new family memories. 

Commencing Thanksgiving weekend and continuing for the first three full weekends of December, the town’s Santa Claus Christmas Celebration includes the Santa Claus Christmas Parade, roasting chestnuts at Santa’s Candy Castle, a live reindeer exhibit at Santa’s Toys and shopping for holiday home decor that ranges from handmade wreaths to personalized ornaments at the Santa Claus Christmas Store or the Santa Claus Arts & Crafts Show. 

To make spirits extra bright, Santa Claus, Indiana, hosts two drive-through light shows. The 1.2-mile Santa Claus Land of Lights at Sun Outdoors Lake Rudolph camping resort tells the story of Rudolph, the famous red-nosed reindeer, with giant storyboards and dazzling LED lights, while the Christmas Lake Village Festival of Lights features residential displays plus cookies and hot chocolate in the private neighborhood’s recreation center.

At the Santa Claus Museum & Village, an iconic 22-foot-tall concrete statue of Santa is a favorite spot for family photos, and many more Santas are displayed inside the museum. In the village, families will also find an 1880s church where carolers give candlelight performances. Children can write and send letters inside the town’s original 1856 post office, giving the town its incomparable Christmas connection, and in keeping with the perpetual good cheer that permeates Santa Claus, Indiana, local volunteers — aka “elves” — answer them all. Museum & Village: 69 St. Rte. 245, Santa Claus, Indiana 47579, 812/544-2434, santaclausmuseum.org