One-Tank Trip: Santa Claus, Ga., is close to ho-ho-home
SANTA CLAUS, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - It’s not just “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town,” here, Santa Claus is the town.
“It’s just a great place. Everybody’s happy at Christmastime, and that makes my job much easier,” said Sue Grisham, secretary for Santa Claus.
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She’s called Santa Claus home most of her life.
“My boys grew up here, and I enjoy my grandchildren coming here, and now it’s my great-grandchildren coming,” she said.
About 200 people live here. You can drive from one end of town to the other in about 30 seconds.
It’s small, but that’s the way Grisham likes it.
“It’s a safe place. We’re in the middle of a lot of things but not in it,” she said.
The big question: why is it called Santa Claus?
In the 1940s, Farmer Greene had a roadside pecan stand here.
“He was trying to think of a way to market his pecans, so he came up with the name of Santa Claus,” Grisham said.
A couple of decades later, a developer built homes and created streets with Christmas-themed names, like Rudolph Way, December Drive and Sleigh Street.
Ever since, the people who moved here have embraced the Santa Claus spirit.
Farmer Greene’s pecan stand isn’t here anymore, but his town still is.
“We’re a real city, just like Atlanta,” Grisham said.
She says Santa Claus receives thousands of letters every year, and she adds a special stamp to each one it gets.
If you’re interested in visiting, get on U.S. 1 and head south.
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