Busler’s Truck Stop Santa Claus

There seems to be a LOT of Santa Claus sites that have been reported as “odd” or “unusual” roadside attractions. In addition to this location, I have now visited the town of Santa Claus, IN which also qualifies as “odd” & unusual”.

But this Santa stood alone at an abandoned truck stop, just north of Evansville and just south of the Pink Elephant With a Martini. Also, just south of the intersection of I-64 and US Route 41.

As you can see from the photo, the site is abandoned. According to some locals that I spoke with, there was some dispute over the property regarding responsibility for clean up, extracting old gas tanks, etc. At various sites, I have seen this “Santa” to be in danger of being removed or destroyed. At the time of my visit he seemed in relatively good shape. but there doesn’t appear to be any upkeep happening. The birds seem to like him, though.

When seeking out this particular site, several local residents reported that he had been removed. I’m not sure if that’s an indication of what may occur in the future, but, as of 3/15/10, Santa still stood, albeit presiding over an empty lot.

Shortly after publication in my old blog: TheKidsThinkIAmNuts (no longer in existance) I received an email, saying AOL (remember them?) wanted to publish, the top photo here, accompanying an article, “Endangered Roadside Attractions.” Unfortunately, it seems only a paragraph is still there! I couldn’t see my photo or any others for that matter.

At first, I thought the email was spam or a hoax, but when they sent a second email and I researched the name on the email, it was REAL. To date, the first photo in this post is the first and only photo that I have ever had published. If you want to publish something of mine, please email me!