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 a deserted place in the Arizona desert. It's in Mohave County, United States. This unique spot started in 1937.
Santa Claus is about 14 miles (23 km) northwest of Kingman, Arizona. You can find it along U.S. Route 93. It's a small roadside area that used to attract travelers. Many people driving between Phoenix, Arizona, and Las Vegas, Nevada, or Hoover Dam would stop there.
When it began in 1937, Santa Claus had several fun attractions. One was the Kit Carson Guest House, which later became the Santa Claus Inn. Nina Talbot, a real estate agent, owned the land. She wanted to use a Santa theme in the desert to sell nearby land. By 1942, Santa Claus was a popular tourist spot.
However, Talbot's plans to sell land didn't work out. The only people living there were those who worked in the town. Talbot sold her part of the town in 1949. 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 your letters postmarked from "Santa Claus, Arizona."
The town's popularity started to fade in the 1970s. By 1995, all the businesses in Santa Claus had closed. In the 2000s, it became hard to find. The few remaining buildings looked old and worn out. Today, you might see some vandalized buildings, a wishing well, and a pink children's train called "Old 1225." This train is covered in graffiti over its painted Santa and elves. The last remaining buildings were taken down in late 2021 or early 2022.
The Story of Santa Claus, Arizona
How It Started
In the 1930s, Nina Talbot and her husband moved to Kingman, Arizona. They came from Los Angeles, California, to run a motel. In 1937, Nina opened the town of Santa Claus. It was about 14 miles (23 km) northwest of Kingman.
Nina wanted to create a resort town with a Santa theme in the desert. She planned to divide 80 acres (32 ha) of land into lots for sale. She built several buildings that looked like Santa's workshop at the North Pole. These attractions were meant to help sell the surrounding land.
In its early days, Santa Claus was a popular place to visit. It had a U.S. post office and buildings related to Christmas. One building was Cinderella's Doll House, which looked like a Swiss chalet. Kids could meet a real Santa Claus there any time of year!
The post office was very busy in December. Children sent letters to Santa there. Adults also sent letters to get a special "Santa Claus" postmark. The Kit Carson Guest House became the Santa Claus Inn. This inn served a big farm breakfast for 75 cents. It also offered special dishes like Chicken à la North Pole and Rum Pie à la Kris Kringle. The rum pie became very famous! By 1942, Santa Claus was a full-fledged tourist spot.
Why It Faded Away
Nina Talbot ran Santa Claus for 12 years. But her dream of a resort town never came true. This was partly because only the workers lived there. In 1949, Talbot sold the town, which was mainly just a restaurant and attraction.
In 1950, Santa Claus appeared in a short story by science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein. The story described a delicious meal served by "Mrs. Claus" at The Santa Claus Inn. In the early 1950s, the inn was renamed The Christmas Tree Inn. It even received good reviews from restaurant critic Duncan Hines. 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 this time, there was a plan to create streets with names like Santa Street and Prancer Parkway.
Santa Claus got more attention in 1961. Advertisements in Popular Mechanics magazine offered a special service. For 25 cents plus postage, you could have your Christmas cards and letters remailed from Santa Claus, Arizona. This meant your mail would have a "Santa Claus, Arizona" postmark, which was popular during the holidays.
However, the town's popularity began to decline in the 1970s. By the mid-1970s, the Santa Claus development closed down. The town was even removed from the official Arizona State Map. In July 1983, the owner, Tony Wilcox, tried to sell the entire town for $95,000. By 1988, the price was lowered to $52,500.
In 1988, writer Mark Winegardner described Santa Claus as being "on its last legs." He saw three small, poorly kept buildings painted like peppermint candies. He noted that the village had old decorations like Styrofoam silver bells and faded plastic Santas. There was a broken Coke machine and an empty ice freezer. The gift shop sold flea-market knickknacks instead of Christmas items.
Before 1990, the U.S. Postal Service sometimes released its annual Christmas stamps in Santa Claus. In the early 1990s, the restaurant offered special omelets and Santa Claus burgers. But the last gift shops and children's attractions closed in 1995.
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."
By 2005, Santa Claus, Arizona, no longer offered its special remailing service. All mail addressed to Santa Claus now goes to Santa Claus, Indiana. In 2006, Santa Claus, Arizona, was noted as abandoned. It was likely to become another forgotten American highway landmark. A filmmaker named Matt McCormick made a short movie called Fifty Years Later (2006). It showed how much the town had changed between 1956 and 2006.
Today, what's left are several vandalized buildings, a wishing well, and the "Old 1225" train. The train is pink, derailed, and covered in graffiti over its painted Santa and elves. As of early 2022, all the remaining buildings have been removed.
See also
