Holiday World brings summer joy to America’s Christmas Hometown
The southern Indiana community of Santa Claus is America’s Christmas Hometown. And though it’s not covered in a permanent blanket of snow, it sure is rich in yuletide cheer. Bearded Santa statues can be found all over the community – in front of the local gas station, post office, volunteer fire department, even town hall. Santa Claus is small, with a population of about 2,600, but it does get some traffic between May and September, thanks to Holiday World & Splashin' Safari, the country’s first themed amusement park. Beyond the touristy spots, the commercial scene is small. Resident Zach Tischendorf, the town’s park and recreation department director, says most people commute for work, shopping and dining. “A bedroom community is the best way to describe it,” he says. “It’s a nice, quiet place to live, raise a family and retire. It’s a very friendly community.”
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas Lake Village
The prices of houses in this community range from around $200,000 to roughly $520,000. While there is a smattering of historic homes, built in the early 1900s, many properties are contemporary, having cropped up in the 1970s or later. Popular styles include classics like Colonial Revivals and Cape Cods, as well as more rustic log cabins and farmhouses. Christmas Lake Village is the largest subdivision in town. The gated, HOA-managed community has some waterfront properties around its lakes: Christmas Lake, Lake Holly and Lake Noel. Other homes feature backyard golf course views, located by Christmas Lake Golf Club. Spencer County is vulnerable to tornadoes; the season ranges from March to June. A couple of special flood zones skirt the community. Properties touching those may require flood insurance for federally backed mortgages. Southern Indiana gets around 5 to 8 inches of snow annually.
Local high school brings tidings of football fame
North Spencer County School Corporation earns an overall A-minus on Niche. Heritage Hills Elementary also has an A-minus. Heritage Hills Middle gets an A, and Heritage Hills High earns a B-plus. The high school has various sports programs, including golf, tennis, soccer and football. Its football reputation is most notable, as the alma mater of NFL quarterback Jay Cutler.
Rockin’ around the Christmas Lake and a happy holiday park
Holiday World & Splashin' Safari anchors the community with five roller coasters, three water coasters and more. It stretches over 100 acres, featuring Christmas-, Halloween-, Thanksgiving- and Fourth-of-July-themed sections. The festive park also offers visitors free parking, sunscreen and soft drinks.
Local youth sports leagues practice at Jim Yellig Park. The athletic hub has various amenities, including a mile-long loop that connects to the rest of the Trails of Santa Claus. The trail system spans almost 6 miles total, but Tischendorf says they’re in the process of extending it a few miles westward, connecting to the nearby Lincoln State Park. “It’s not far at all,” he says. “I mean, heck, as a kid I used to ride my bike down the shoulder of the highway… about a 10- or 15-minute ride.” The state park’s over 1,700 acres encompass the hardwood forests and rolling hills President Abraham Lincoln roamed in his youth. It has two lakes, one with a beach, and 10 miles of hiking trails. Next to it, visitors can learn more about the Civil War president’s formative years at the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial.
Yule find pizza, groceries and gifts near Christmas Boulevard
A couple of pizza parlours and a Subway can be found around the intersection of Christmas Boulevard and St. Louis Koch Boulevard. Holiday Foods, the town grocery store, is on the strip, too, just down the road from Dollar General. It sits next to the Santa Claus Christmas Store, a sprawling but cozy shop of holiday collectibles, ornaments, souvenirs and baked goods. For big-box store shopping, Walmart Supercenter is just over 30 miles away in Owensboro, Ky. More options are closer to 50 miles away in Evansville.
On Comet, on Cupid, on to the ER and airport
Boonville is just under 25 miles away and has a 24-hour emergency room at Ascension St. Vincent Warrick. Another ER is about 22 miles north at Memorial Hospital in Jasper. A ramp onto Interstate 64 is less than 10 miles away, and the closest airport with commercial flights is Evansville Regional Airport, around 45 miles away. It has daily flights to Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago and the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
Written By
Micaela Willoughby
