HOLIDAYS 2021
Tiny community puts its own stamp on thousands of holiday greetings
KERRY FIRTH
Florida’s
Christmas town By Kerry Firth
A special box is provided for letters to Santa. If mailed
early, they are answered from Christmas.
HOLIDAY 2021: 27
hristmas is right around
the corner. We’ve all heard
that phrase in reference to
the Christmas season and
Christmas Day. But for Florida residents
and visitors, Christmas is physically right
around the corner, halfway between
Orlando and Titusville.
The tiny community of about 1,100
people with a year-round Christmas spirit
is where State Road 50 intersects County
Road 420 Fort Christmas Drive. It’s hard
to miss the intersection as it’s graced
with a 35-foot Christmas tree, a concrete
Santa statue, red wooden sleigh, reindeer
and a Nativity scene, which has rocks
from every state in the manger.
A sign on the corner says “The
permanent Christmas tree at Christmas
Florida is the symbol of love and good
will; the Christmas Spirit every day,
every year.” Cupid and St. Nicholas
avenues are the main roads through the
residential Christmas Park neighborhood
with side streets named after Santa’s
reindeer, Rudolph, Dasher and Blitzen.
On the north side of the intersection is
the small brick post office tucked among
the shaded oaks and palmettos but very
distinctive with its year-round Christmas
décor. Tens of thousands of people visit
the Christmas post office each year to
have their holiday greetings stamped
with the official Christmas postmark — a
very coveted stamp any time of year and
particularly during the holiday season.
An official post office designation had
been established in 1892 but postal
services had operated out of private
homes and a general store as far back
as 1837. The first official post office was
built in 1937.
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