post office Archives - Villa Vanderlaan

What better place to explore than the town where it’s Christmas year-round? About 20 miles from Orlando a city called Christmas is located along Highway 50. A small, post office is on your right right after seeing the green “Christmas” sign that marks the entrance to the town. It is decorated for the holidays year round with a holiday wreath on the outside and a tree in the lobby. During summer it is a quiet place, but prior to the holidays, they line up for the post office to mail their holiday cards and letters with the unique postmark of “Christmas, FL.”.

The city has been named after Fort Christmas a 25-acre park that features a traditional Florida “Cracker” house, a school house and lunchroom, seven pioneer homes, a sugar cane mill and historical farming equipment. Visitors will uncover a wealth of historical information. The historical park also includes several picnic pavilions, a unique themed children’s playground, a baseball diamond, tennis, volleyball and basketball courts.

Also located in the area is Jungle Adventures Nature Park. The larger-than-life alligator marks the entrance to the park where a number of exotic animals call home. Besides the animal displays, the park advertises jungle adventure shows, a jungle cruise and more. They are open everyday of the year from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm rain or shine.

Besides the small X-mas gift shop, there really isn’t too much to do but it is always fun, especially in during the holiday season, to bring a visit to the city of Christmas.

In 1953 a building, that once was a tool shed, was converted into the post office after a fire destroyed the original Ochopee Post Office located in the Gaunt Company Store. The structure served as both the post office and the Trailways Bus Stop. Two local residents, Mr. Cail and Mr. Sidney Brown built shelves and cubby holes to hold the mail. Later that year, the Tamiami Trail was widened, the building was moved back on a wheel barrow to its current location.

The post office at Ochopee, Florida, the nation’s smallest, is a tiny place for its clerk. But it is said to be the coolest job in the world. There is a phone, a computer, an air conditioner, a fluorescent tube for light, and a pair of tiny sliding screen doors to keep out the giant horseflies. Everything that one needs is obviously within
reach. The job is quiet, as you might expect, although it is a regular stop on the south Florida tourist circuit. Tourists from all over the world stop by to get something postmarked, so there is a stack of Ochopee Post Office post cards on the counter, pre-stamped both domestic and international, for when the tour buses pull up.