Santa Claus (granite, 22 ft)

Santa Claus, Indiana, United States

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Public art

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Current

Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

A 22-foot Santa Claus statue at the Santa Claus Museum & Village, 69 North State Route 245, Santa Claus, Indiana. Dedicated at Christmas 1935 and promoted as granite, it is cast concrete in hollow sections; Holiday World restored it in 2011.

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Santa Claus (granite, 22 ft)

This pin marks the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.

Approximate location · 38.120° N, 86.914° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Long before Santa Claus, Indiana, had a theme park, it had a 22-foot Santa that opened a roadside attraction.

The statue was designed and built by Ralph Fletcher Seymour of Chicago for Carl A. Barrett, according to engineers Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, and was erected and dedicated on Christmas Day 1935. Barrett's Santa Claus Park was dedicated the same season. The Indiana Historical Bureau says it was "purportedly made of solid granite". The engineers found it was cast in hollow sections, and the museum describes it as built of solid concrete.

Within a few years the park was caught up in a feud. Barrett's company and a rival, Milt Harris, who built Santa's Candy Castle, sued each other over names and land. The Historical Bureau says the case reached the Indiana Supreme Court, which ruled in 1940 that both could keep their names and lifted an injunction on the park. By 1943, cracks ran through the base of the statue, and wartime rationing had hurt tourism.

The statue weathered. The engineers, retained by Holiday World, found deterioration from freeze-thaw damage and corrosion of embedded reinforcing steel, and recommended repairs matching the original concrete. The Historical Bureau says Holiday World restored it in 2011.

Today it stands at the Santa Claus Museum & Village, a not-for-profit museum just south of Holiday World that also holds the original post office, an 1880 church and a 12-foot Santa mural completed in 2022. Visit Indiana in October 2026 suggested a family photo in front of the statue. The museum says it is open through the year with varying hours, so check before travelling.

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WHAT TO EXPECT

An outdoor statue on the grounds of the Santa Claus Museum & Village, which also has an 1880 church, the original Santa Claus post office and a 2022 Santa mural. The museum says it is open year-round with varying hours; Visit Indiana (October 2026) suggests photos with the statue.

ACCESS

Santa Claus Museum & Village, 69 North State Route 245, Santa Claus, Indiana, just south of Holiday World. The museum says hours vary through the year; call 812-544-2434 or check its website and Facebook page.

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WHAT'S NEXT

Find another Big Thing nearby

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Roadside giants

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42 km away

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