Fairbanks to Deadhorse return - Alaska and Points North: Tips and Tales from the Road - page 175

been record low temperatures in the winter -78 degrees Fahrenheit! Apparently it has also
reached a record high of 95 degrees Fahrenheit in summer.
The town was founded when a fellow subdivided his homestead and sold off lots. Moose
Crossing was the frontrunner in the race to name it but most of the lots had been sold to
a development company that was courting a toy manufacturer. They decided North Pole
would be more attractive to the company and so it was named.
The toy manufacturer never bought in but in 1952 a savvy entrepreneur built Santa Claus
House. There is a heart-warming story of how it came about. Every year around Christ-
mas the proprietor of the general merchandise store would don a red Santa suit to make
his deliveries. In time he came to be known as Santa (and the longest serving mayor of the
North Pole). When he was building a new store one of the children declared that he must
be building Santa Claus House . And so it became.
Today, Santa Claus House celebrates Christmas on an Americanized scale with gifts and
ornaments and decorations beyond anything I could have imagined. From appliances to un-
derwear there is nothing that has not been “Christmasized.” And yes, there is an authentic-
looking Santa and Mrs sitting there, even in July. Thousands of couples have been married
there - by the wife of the mayor/Santa Claus who is also the town's marriage commission-
er. The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well at North Pole, Alaska.