A handful of towns across the South wear their yuletide spirit proudly. For example, you can drive past teeny North Pole, Oklahoma, or visit Christmasville, Tennessee. Santa’s reindeer make a municipal stand with Dasher, Georgia, Donner, Florida, Comet, Virginia, Vixen, Louisiana, and the most famous reindeer town of all—Rudolph, Tennessee. Here, we share a few more of our favorite holiday-named Southern locales.
1. Christmas, Florida
Each year, thousands of visitors drive to this little town east of Orlando to run an errand many of us dread—mailing letters. “People schedule their vacations around our Christmas postmark,” says the town’s postmaster, Dawn King. “Someone drove down from Vermont this year. Other people will mail their Christmas cards to us in a box so that we’ll postmark them—we even had a box from China.”
Photo: COURTESY OF FLORIDA MEMORY
Memories of the Christmas, Florida, post office in 1947.
2. Santa Claus, Georgia
Blink and you’ll miss the tiny—population 166—city just off Georgia’s Route 1. Although it only covers two tenths of a mile, Santa Claus packs in as much holiday naming as possible—in a matter of minutes you can drive along Candy Cane Street, December Drive, or Rudolph Way.
MICHAEL RIVERA
3. Bethlehem, North Carolina
The community of Bethlehem is located in Alexander County, an hour northwest of Charlotte. For fourteen years, locals have organized the “Christmas in Bethlehem Drive-Thru” with a living cast of about 100 characters recreating the nativity. Each year, nearly 2,000 guests drive around the thirty interactive scenes. Some visitors arrive in costume—peasant, soldier, or shepherd—and leave their cars behind to stroll through the display.
4. Mistletoe, Kentucky
Southeastern Kentucky is loaded with memorable town titles—Canoe, Turkey, Busy, and Decoy, for example. Nestled among them, the community of Mistletoe was once a stop on the Kentucky Union Railway. Railroad workers named the spot for the native plant that grows wild in the area.
through the display.
4. Garland, Texas
This festive city hosts a slew of holiday events that focus on the arts. Our favorites? The Elvis Kind of Christmas musical revue featuring the songs of the King, and free screenings of holiday movies like White Christmas at the city’s arts center.
But what if you want to get away from all that holiday cheer? Book a one-way ticket to the U.S. Virgin Islands—on Saint Croix, you’ll find the village of Humbug.
