Every kid who is smart enough to figure out that Santa has an entire town named after him and write to him there gets a personal letter in return from the Santa Claus Elves. If there are Grinches in Santa Claus, they don’t make themselves known around Christmas, when volunteers respond to each and every letter to Santa that comes through the post office. And the DMV is the Santa Claus DMV, but…maybe not so jolly. And the police department is the Santa Claus PD. That means that the post office is the Santa Claus post office. However, perhaps after being informed by the US Postal Service that there was another Santa Fe and showing up to the post office wearing the same dress was totally gauche, the town changed its name to…Santa Claus.

Labeled “America’s Christmas Hometown,” Santa Claus, Indiana was initially established as Santa Fe, Indiana. They're written on anything from wide-ruled sheets to Christmassy stationery, and sometimes include stickers or doodles. Despite coming from around the globe, the majority of the letters are in English - although Koch has seen some in German, French, Spanish and Japanese.Not only that, but you can can totally send a letter to Santa Claus, provided you are sending mail to Indiana…Santa Claus, Indiana, that is. These letters to Santa are scrawled in loopy cursive or crooked script, using pencil, pen or marker. Some of the envelopes contain just one letter, while others include an entire classroom's worth. The core group of 10 volunteers are supplemented by service groups, clubs or walk-in volunteers who are looking to help spread Christmas cheer.įor up to 12 hours a day, volunteers gather around a table in a back room of the 163-year-old Santa Claus Post Office building and sort through piles of mail. Koch, now 88, has helped respond to Santa's letters since she was 12.Įlves respond to anywhere from 20,000 to 25,000 letters each year, Koch said. But Pat Koch's personal experience dates it to at least 1930, when her father came home from World War I and began organizing helpers for the postmaster's busiest season. Residents say the Santa Claus postmaster has been responding to letters on behalf of Kriss Kringle for a century. Santa Claus, Indiana, is a place that exudes Christmas cheer year-round, Arnold said, 'but it's extra special during the holidays.' Meet Santa's elves 20 will get a personal note from Santa Claus. In 2018, elves responded to 22,000 letters, said Pat Koch, the founder of the Santa Claus Museum & Village and 'Chief Elf' of the team handling letters. In 2019, with just over a week until Christmas, they'd already responded to 19,000 - and the letters were still coming. Each child whose letter is received by Dec. The letters are handled by a group of volunteer 'elves' who read and respond to each one they can. What if we told you that, rather than being delivered to the Arctic, there's a chance it was re-routed to southern Indiana instead?Įach year, tens of thousands of people from around the world send letters to Saint Nick that make their way to the tiny post office in Santa Claus, Indiana, a town of about 2,500 three hours southwest of Indianapolis. Have you ever sent a letter to Santa Claus and wondered whether it ever really made it to the North Pole?

Santa claus indiana