Santa Claus, Arizona

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Santa Claus (disambiguation).

Santa Claus, Arizona
ZIP codes
86401
Area code928

Santa Claus (also known as Santa Claus Acres)

Las Vegas, Nevada, or Hoover Dam.[3][7]

In connection with its beginnings in 1937, Santa Claus received several attractions and buildings, including the Kit Carson Guest House which was renamed the Santa Claus Inn. Nina Talbot, a real estate woman and the owner of Santa Claus, made plans to use the Santa theme in a parched desert location to attract buyers for her surrounding, subdivided land. By 1942, the town of Santa Claus had become a full-fledged tourist spot.

After twelve years operating Santa Claus, Talbot's land resale plans for Santa Claus never materialized, in part because the only inhabitants in the town were the ones working there. Talbot sold her interest in the town in 1949. Others made plans during the 1950s to improve Santa Claus, which received publicity through the writings of American novelist and famed science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein and U.S. pioneer restaurant rater Duncan Hines and through 1961 remailing service advertisements offering to postmark letters from Santa Claus, for a small fee.

The popularity of Santa Claus went into decline in the 1970s. In July 1983, owner Tony Wilcox unsuccessfully offered to sell Santa Claus for $95,000, which was reduced to $52,500 by 1988. All remaining operating businesses in the town closed in 1995. In the 2000s, the town became difficult to locate and the few remaining structures and attractions were weather worn. What presently remains is several vandalized buildings, a wishing well, and the "Old 1225", a derailed, pink children's train tagged with graffiti that mar the hand-painted renderings of Santa and his elves on the train. The abandoned town was torn down sometime in late 2021 to early 2022.

History

Early years

The legend of American frontiersman Kit Carson continued to grow after his 1868 death through dime novels, such as the one above.

In the 1930s, Nina Talbot

Los Angeles, California, to Kingman, Arizona, to operate a motel.[5] Talbot held herself out as the biggest real estate agent in California, but also weighed 300 pounds at that time.[5] In 1937, she opened the town of Santa Claus approximately 14 miles (23 km) northwest of Kingman.[3][5] Her plans for the town included subdividing the 80-acre (32 ha) site into lots that would form a resort town centered on a Santa theme in a parched desert location.[5][9] Talbot built a series of buildings using a North Pole, Santa's workshop theme as part of the Santa Claus (or Santa's Workshop) attraction.[9] The attraction was designed to promote the sales of surrounding, subdivided land.[9]

In the early years, Santa Claus presented a popular attraction and featured a U.S. post office and Christmas related buildings.[5] Cinderella's Doll House was one of the buildings, designed to have the look of a Swiss chalet.[9] Children could visit a real Santa Claus in the town at any time of the year.[5] The post office was widely used in December by kids sending letters to the town addressed to Santa and by adults wanting their letters postmarked from "Santa Claus."[5] The Kit Carson Guest House became part of Santa Claus and was named the Santa Claus Inn.[2] The Santa Claus Inn served "a big farm breakfast" for $.75 in an air-conditioned restaurant and offered menu items such as Chicken à la North Pole and Rum Pie à la Kris Kringle.[2] The restaurant became famed for its rum pie.[9] The "French Room" part of the restaurant was highlighted in now vintage postcards and a photo of Santa Claus himself was placed over the restaurant's fireplace.[9] By 1942, the town of Santa Claus had become a full-fledged tourist spot.[9]

Decline

Rear view of the Santa Claus Land Sales Office looking northeast, ,2008. To the right is the "Old 1225", a derailed, pink children's train tagged with graffiti. U.S. Route 93, Ithaca Peak (left), and Turquoise Mountain (right) can be seen in the background.
The Christmas Tree Inn, circa 1960s

Talbot continued to operate Santa Claus for the next 12 years.

Donner and divide the area into 1-acre (0.40 ha) house lots.[5]

Santa Claus received some attention in 1961 when several advertisements appeared in the 1961 issue of Popular Mechanics,[11] an American magazine devoted to science and technology. The advertisements offered remailing services where Christmas cards and letters would be remailed from Santa Claus, Arizona, at a cost of $.25 plus the postage for the remailing.[11] The remailing service would result in a United States Postal Service postmark on the envelope reading Santa Claus, Arizona, something desirable around the annual Christmas holiday.[11]

The popularity of Santa Claus declined in the 1970s.[5] By the mid-1970s, the Santa Claus development closed.[5][9] At some point, Santa Claus was removed from the official Arizona State Map.[12] In July 1983, owner Tony Wilcox listed the entire town for sale.[12] Wilcox sought $95,000 for the 4-acre (16,000 m2) community.[12] He had received an offer of $50,000, but turned it down, convinced that the town was worth much more.[12]

In 1988, Santa Claus had three tiny, poorly maintained

elves and reindeer. Alongside the SANTA CLAUS, ARIZONA/ESTABLISHED 1937 sign was another: FOR SALE BY OWNER/$52,500/INQUIRE AT GIFTSHOP. An arrow pointed the way."
"The gift shop stocked no seasonal items. Its shelves were littered with flea-market knickknacks at antique-shop prices. Battered paperbacks cost a buck. What little money the place generated must have come from the short-ordered grill and the soft-drinks cooler. On a stool behind the countertop cash register, a haggard, fiftyish man looked up from his circle-the-word puzzle and asked if we needed anything."[3]

Prior to 1990, the

U.S. Postal Service announced the release of its annual Christmas stamps in Santa Claus due to the town's holiday ring.[13] In the early 1990s, the restaurant offered Dasher and Dancer omelette and Santa Claus burgers and oil portraits of John Wayne could be purchased from the shops.[1] However, the last gift shops and child amusements went out of business in 1995.[1]

In 2003, the population of Santa Claus was 10, divided among five houses, one of which had a buffalo.[14] By 2004, the town had become difficult to locate.[9] In that year, the town was identified as being located on the southward (western side) of the then newly divided and expanded, four-lane U.S. Route 93.[9] The town was described as "an abandoned, road-rise pull off with a handful of old buildings – all closed" with "This is it! Santa's Land" and "Santa's Desert Retreat" being the only two signs left from the early days of the town.[9]

Santa Claus, Arizona, had long lost its remailing service opportunities and, as of 2005, all U.S. mail addressed to Santa Claus is sent to

Northwest Film and Video Festival, the film reveals the significant changes in the town over 50 years.[17] As of 2007, the Christmas-themed architecture in the closed town of Santa Claus was listed for sale.[19] What presently remains is several vandalized buildings, a wishing well, and the "Old 1225", a derailed, pink children's train tagged with graffiti that mar the hand-painted renderings of Santa and his elves on the train. As of early 2022, all remaining buildings have been removed. [1]

Geography

2006 United States Geological Survey survey of the depth to water and water-level altitude in the Santa Claus, Arizona area

In a 2006

mean sea level and is moving directly south.[20]

See also

References

  1. ^
    Roadside america
    . 2008. Retrieved December 21, 2008.
  2. ^
    ISBN 1-57178-128-5
    . Retrieved December 21, 2008.
  3. ^
    ISBN 0-87113-205-2
    . Retrieved December 21, 2008.
  4. ^
    Roadside america
    . 2008. Retrieved December 21, 2008.
  5. ^
    ISBN 0-935810-71-4
    . Retrieved December 21, 2008.
  6. Roadside america
    . 2008. Retrieved December 21, 2008.
  7. Harley-Davidson Motor Company
    . p. 2. Retrieved December 21, 2008.
  8. ISBN 9780498066382
    . Retrieved December 21, 2008.
  9. ^
    Deseret Morning News
    . pp. B1. Retrieved December 21, 2008.
  10. ^
    ISBN 0-441-21891-1
    . Retrieved December 21, 2008.
  11. ^ a b c "Remailing Service". Popular Mechanics. 116 (6). Hearst Magazines: 60. December 1961. Retrieved December 21, 2008.
  12. ^ a b c d Maeder, Jay (July 14, 1983). "Elsewhere on the Available Real Estate front, the entire town of Santa Claus , Ariz ., is for sale". Miami Herald. pp. 2A. Retrieved December 21, 2008.
  13. ^ "Christmas Stamp Unveiled in Evergreen". Associated Press. October 19, 1990. Each year, the Postal Service releases Christmas stamps in a town whose name has a holiday ring. Past sites include Santa Claus, Arizona, and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
  14. ISBN 1-56025-474-2. Retrieved December 21, 2008.[permanent dead link
    ]
  15. ISBN 1-904332-27-7
    . Retrieved December 21, 2008.
  16. ISBN 0-7603-2689-4
    . Retrieved December 21, 2008.
  17. ^ a b c Browning, Skylar (September 20, 2007). "Missoula and more". Missoula Independent. Vol. 18, no. 38. p. 42.
  18. ^ McCormick, Matt (2009). "Matt McCormick Projects Film And Video". rodeofilmco.com. Archived from the original on October 27, 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2009.
  19. ISBN 978-0-8117-0229-4
    . Retrieved December 21, 2008.
  20. ^
    Universal Transverse Mercator. United States Geological Survey
    . Retrieved December 22, 2008.
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