What was the first motif park in the nation ? If you guessed Disneyland , you ’re going on the naughty list . In fact , it was called Santa Claus Land — a year - round Christmas idyll in the heart of the country that came into being before Walt Disney decided to make his steel a tourist goal .
To sympathize Santa Claus Land , you ’ve stupefy to understand its location : Santa Claus , Indiana . The town became always link up with Christmasback in the 1850s , when resident go for for a U.S. Post Office clear that their townspeople , which had been established a few twelvemonth originally , had the same name as another Indiana burg . There was no choice but to exchange the name of Santa Fe , Indiana , to something else . After townspeople consulted among themselves , “ Santa Claus ” won the day . Little did the resident of the petite town realise that they were setting themselves up for a cottage Christmas manufacture that would last for over a century .
Though Santa Claus was the townsfolk ’s name , one nearby occupant felt the spot was n’t respectful enough to the man himself . For days , the teensy town had been a dear place to send letters to Santa , which the postmaster responded to(with some assistant from local anesthetic ) along with the town ’s unique postmark . However , a local industrialist named Louis Koch thought that was n’t enough — he believed the townspeople needed a undecomposed way to honor everyone ’s favorite Christmas visitor .
Koch accept matters into his own hand during other World War II , when he purchase 260 acres of farmland with programme for an amusement parkland . The war intervene concisely , but when it ended Koch go forward as fleetly as a reindeer pulling a sleigh . He and his son opened a Santa - theme park design in an Alpine style and staring with adorable details like a toy shop , children ’s rides , and appearances from Santa himself . It even had aHouse of Dollsaimed at little fille .
Amusement parks existed long before Santa Land opened in 1946 , but a ballpark with a specific theme was something new . One of its greatest assets was Santa himself , who was play by a homo diagnose Jim Yellig for closely to four decades . Yellig clear a smear in theInternational Santa Claus Hall of Famefor his trustworthy portrayal of the portly celebrity and is think to have hadover a million kidssit on his knee during his incumbency .
Future President of the United States Ronald Reagan visiting Santa Claus Land in 1955 , with Santa ( Jim Yellig ) on the left over and Louis Koch on the right . simulacrum citation : Wikimedia// Public Domain
Koch ’s bid to put the Santa in Santa Claus worked . Despitebeing freeinitially ( it started charging 50 cent admission to adult in 1955 ) , the commons generated enough gross to make Koch ’s son , Bill , imagine : Why not build out Santa Claus — the town itself — even further ?
Bill Koch ’s dream for Santa Claus was huge , and it did n’t stop over with a mere kiddie parking lot . Rather , like Disney after him , he watch his investment in the area ’s tourism as a real estate bid , too . He open up a campgroundacross from the park in 1958 . Then , in the former 1960s , he tell his son he desire to build out the stagnant , small townsfolk . “ He need a better property to raise his kidskin , ” his Word , Philip , recalledin a historyof his father ’s business . Bill ’s married woman , Pat , state her married man he was " absolutely demented . Why would anyone want to live in Santa Claus ? ”
undiscouraged , Bill begin to buy up tilled land and forge with local bureau to create the groundwork for a subdivision — feature street name like chestnut - by - the - Fire Drive . In 1966 , Christmas Lake Village opened — and todaythe upscale gate community has about 2000 resident . ( The family also built another , non - gated community called Holiday Village . )
Things changed at Santa Claus Land over the years . In the seventies , the car park begin adding more avant-garde ride in an drive to compete witha raise rollercoaster trend . In the 1980s , it exchange its name to Holiday World and incorporated other holiday like Halloween , Thanksgiving , and the Fourth of July . These twenty-four hours , it also contains a water Mungo Park called Splashin ' Safari and several notable coasters , likeThe RavenandThe Legend .
It may no longer be called Santa Claus Land , but Holiday World is still a local destination and has muckle of Christmas tribute ( Santa still take a shit daily appearances ) . And perhaps the best part of the park is the fact that it emerge from one small town ’s Santa compulsion .
