Laatst bijgewerkt op december 7, 2023
Kerstman, Arizona is een van de meest unieke spooksteden die je in de VS kunt vinden.
Eerst voor ogen in 1937 als een attractie met een vakantiethema langs de Route die het hele jaar door geopend is 66, deze eens zo feestelijke stad in Mohave County is al tientallen jaren volledig verlaten, leaving the festive spirit to rot in the desert.
Vanaf 2022, the remains of the ghost town has been dismantled, with most vandalized buildings removed.
EEN (Failed) Festive Experiment
Kerstman (or the Santa Claus Acres) was officially launched in 1937 by an ambitious estate agent who was operating a motel in the area with her husband.
Envisioned as a resort town centered around the theme of Christmas, where children could send letters and visit Santa Claus at any time of the year, the town was only known for its Santa Claus Inn and restaurant, and was eventually sold by the founder in 1949.
The new owners ran the inn with moderate success until the 1970s, when the popularity of Santa Claus started to decline altogether.
Door 1983, Santa Claus had been removed from the official Arizona maps and the entire town had been listed as for sale — unsuccessfully.
Decades later, Santa Claus is officially considered a ghost town, home to families of rattlesnakes, vandalized buildings and a children’s train tagged with holiday-themed graffiti.
Santa Claus also inspired several works of fiction, such as Robert A. Heinlein’s short story “Cliff and the Calories”, which featured a fictionalized version of the town and its restaurant.
Another example is the 1984 horror film “Don’t Open Till Christmas”, which used Santa Claus as a filming location.
The End of Santa Claus
The final nail in the coffin for Santa Claus came in 1995, when the last operating business in the town, het postkantoor, closed its doors.
The town’s main attraction, the ability to send letters with a Santa Claus postmark, was no longer available.
The town became a curiosity for travelers and urban explorers, who documented the decay and vandalism of the once-merry place.
In late 2021 or early 2022, the remaining structures of Santa Claus were torn down, leaving behind only a few traces of the town’s existence.
The land was reportedly sold to a private buyer, who may have plans to develop it in the future.
Santa Claus may be gone, but it will not be forgotten. It remains a unique and fascinating chapter in the history of Arizona and the American Southwest.
Fotogallerij: Santa Claus Then and Now
Uw nummer 1 bron van informatie over de wereld van zandsporten en woestijnavontuurlijke reizen. Onze artikelen zijn het resultaat van uitgebreid onderzoek, persoonlijke ervaring, en kennisdeling binnen de wereldwijde sandboard-gemeenschap.
