Santa Claus, Arizona facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Santa Claus, Arizona
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Santa Claus Land sign. The "office" portion was added later.
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 Santa Claus, Arizona
Location in Arizona
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| Country | United States |
| State | Arizona |
| County | Mohave |
| Founded | 1937 |
| Abandoned | 1995 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.00625 sq mi (0.0162 km2) |
| • Land | 0.00625 sq mi (0.0162 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 3,392 ft (1,033.88 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-7 (MST) |
| ZIP codes |
86401
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| Area code(s) | 928 |
Santa Claus (also called Santa Claus Acres) is an empty desert place in Mohave County, Arizona, USA. It started in 1937. This small area is about 14 miles (23 km) northwest of Kingman. You can find it along U.S. Route 93. It's near Grasshopper Junction and some cool metal art in Chloride.
In 1988, it was called a "little roadside place." Many drivers traveling between Phoenix, Las Vegas, Nevada, or Hoover Dam would pass by.
When it first opened in 1937, Santa Claus had many fun attractions. One was the Kit Carson Guest House, which became the Santa Claus Inn. Nina Talbot, who owned the land, wanted to use a Santa theme. She hoped it would attract people to buy land in the desert. By 1942, Santa Claus was a popular tourist spot.
Nina Talbot sold the town in 1949. Her plans to sell the land didn't work out. This was partly because only the workers lived there. Others tried to improve Santa Claus in the 1950s. It even got attention from famous writer Robert A. Heinlein and restaurant critic Duncan Hines. In 1961, you could pay a small fee to have letters mailed from Santa Claus.
The town's popularity began to fade in the 1970s. All businesses closed in 1995. By the 2000s, Santa Claus was hard to find. The remaining buildings looked old and worn out. Today, you might see some damaged buildings and a wishing well. There's also a pink children's train called "Old 1225." It has graffiti on it, covering the painted Santa and elves. The abandoned town was torn down in late 2021 or early 2022.
Contents
The Story of Santa Claus, Arizona
How Santa Claus Town Began
In the 1930s, Nina Talbot and her husband moved to Kingman, Arizona. They came from Los Angeles, California, to run a motel. Nina Talbot was a real estate agent. In 1937, she opened the town of Santa Claus. It was about 14 miles (23 km) northwest of Kingman.
Her idea was to create a resort town. It would have a Santa theme in the middle of the desert. She built buildings that looked like the North Pole and Santa's workshop. This attraction was meant to help sell the land around it.
In its early years, Santa Claus was a popular place. It had a U.S. post office and Christmas-themed buildings. One building was Cinderella's Doll House. It looked like a Swiss chalet. Kids could visit a real Santa Claus any time of year.
The post office was very busy in December. Kids sent letters to Santa there. Adults wanted their letters to have a "Santa Claus" postmark. The Kit Carson Guest House became the Santa Claus Inn. It served a "big farm breakfast" and famous rum pie. By 1942, Santa Claus was a full tourist spot.
Why Santa Claus Town Declined
Nina Talbot ran Santa Claus for 12 years. But her plans for a resort town didn't happen. This was because only the workers lived there. In 1949, Talbot sold the town. It was mainly an attraction with a restaurant.
In 1950, Santa Claus appeared in a short story. It was called Cliff and the Calories by Robert A. Heinlein. He wrote about a big meal served by Mrs. Claus. She was actually Mrs. Douglas, who ran the Santa Claus Inn.
In the early 1950s, the Santa Claus Inn changed its name. It became The Christmas Tree Inn. Duncan Hines, a famous restaurant reviewer, praised it. He said it was one of the best places to eat near Arizona State Route 66. This brought celebrities like actress Jane Russell to the restaurant.
Around that time, there was a plan to name streets after Santa's reindeer. Streets like Santa Street, Prancer Parkway, and Donner were planned. They wanted to divide the area into 1-acre (0.4 ha) house lots.
Santa Claus got attention in 1961. Ads in Popular Mechanics magazine offered a special service. For 25 cents plus postage, they would remail Christmas cards. This meant your letters would have a "Santa Claus, Arizona" postmark. This was popular around Christmas.
The town's popularity went down in the 1970s. By the mid-1970s, the Santa Claus development closed. The town was even removed from the official Arizona State Map. In July 1983, the owner, Tony Wilcox, tried to sell the entire town. He asked for $95,000 for the 4-acre (16,000 m2) community.
In 1988, Santa Claus had three small buildings. They were shaped like A-frame houses and painted like peppermint candies. Writer Mark Winegardner said the town was "on its last legs." He described old decorations and a broken Coke machine. Two buildings were locked. Inside, he saw dusty fiberglass statuettes of elves and reindeer. A sign said "FOR SALE BY OWNER/$52,500."
Before 1990, the U.S. Postal Service released its Christmas stamps in Santa Claus. This was because of the town's holiday name. In the early 1990s, the restaurant offered "Dasher and Dancer omelettes" and "Santa Claus burgers." You could also buy oil portraits of John Wayne. But the last shops closed in 1995.
In 2003, Santa Claus had only 10 people living in five houses. By 2004, the town was hard to find. It was described as "an abandoned, road-rise pull off with a handful of old buildings – all closed." Only two signs remained: "This is it! Santa's Land" and "Santa's Desert Retreat."
Santa Claus, Arizona, no longer offered remailing services by 2005. All mail sent to Santa Claus now goes to Santa Claus, Indiana. In 2006, Santa Claus, Arizona, was noted as abandoned. It was becoming another lost American highway landmark. A filmmaker named Matt McCormick made a movie about it. It showed how much the town changed from 1956 to 2006. By 2022, all remaining buildings were removed.
Geography of the Area
In 2006, a survey looked at the water in the Santa Claus area. The ground has loose to solid layers of alluvium (river deposits). Santa Claus is in the Sacramento Valley basin.
The underground water is in a basin-fill aquifer. This means water is stored in layers of rock and soil. The water is about 1,200 feet (366 m) below the surface. The water level is about 2,100 feet (640 m) above mean sea level. It flows directly south.
