Santa's Candy Castle: Santa Claus, Indiana's Oldest Attraction

Santa's Candy Castle is a Santa Claus- and Christmas-themed attraction in the small town of Santa Claus, Indiana. The town is located about 30 miles east of Evansville, Indiana, and is just a few miles from Interstate 64, which runs between Evansville and Louisville, Kentucky. Santa Claus (the town) receives more than one million visitors a year. Recent highway improvements have eased access to both the town and the Candy Castle itself.

The town of Santa Claus dates back to 1856, when the U.S. Post Office officially granted the town its name. It wasn't until the mid-1920s, however, that the town became famous. The enterprising Postmaster at the time, James Martin, decided to start promoting the town's unique postmark by having retailers ship their Christmas items from there so that children would receive packages from "Santa Claus.'' Children began sending letters to Santa Claus (the person), and, by 1929, the town received so many letters that it was featured in "Ripley's Believe It or Not.''

Santa's Candy Castle was built in 1935, when entrepreneur Milton Harris realized his dream of creating a themed attraction around the town's popularity with children at Christmas. The Candy Castle was originally sponsored by the Curtiss Candy Company, the maker of Baby Ruth and Butterfinger. Almost immediately after the castle itself was built, Santa's Workshop and the Toy Village, sponsored by several large American toymakers, sprang to life. Toys were available for children to play with, and no admission was charged. The site claims it was the first themed attraction in the nation.

By the 1970s, Santa's Candy Castle was old and run-down. It no longer received many visitors, and by 1975, the attraction had closed. It sat vacant for 30 years, until it was purchased, renovated and reopened in 2006. The attraction itself is still free. Its primary marketing is centered around its candy and confection store, both online and onsite. The store sells fudge and 31 different flavors of candy canes, as well as old-fashioned candies like divinity and caramel corn. The most popular products, according to customer reviews, however, are the hot chocolate and frozen chocolate mixes. The owner of the Candy Castle, Kevin Klosowski, says, "I thought it would be cool to fill the moat with hot chocolate.'' Apparently, the local health inspector disagreed. One room in the castle now features a historical display related to the town's postal past, including letters to Santa and Ripley's Believe It or Not paraphernalia.

Only the Candy Castle reopened in 2006; Klosowski plans to reopen Santa's Workshop and the Toy Village as he is able to remodel them. The town offers many other Christmas-themed attractions now, and families can find plenty to entertain themselves. Customer reviews on several websites are mostly ecstatic, based on young children's reactions. One woman exclaims, "The look in my children's eyes ... was priceless!'' Even adults are fascinated: "I thought I was going to visit a cheesy tourist stop but ... what I found was an incredible piece of history.'' Perhaps Santa's Candy Castle is best summed up a young reviewer from kidsknowstuff.com, who says, "It's just like Christmas!''