It’s Christmas Everyday in … Christmas

With a 35-foot-tall wooden Santa Claus statue boldly standing along M-28 and streets with holiday-themed names like Jingle Bell Lane, Christmas, Michigan stays festive throughout the entire year.

According to the Exploring the North website, Christmas was named by a Munising man who started a roadside factory to make holiday gift items in 1938.

“The factory is long gone, but the community of Christmas continued to grow, becoming a popular resort area and a joy for snowmobilers,” the website states. The small town about 5 miles west of Munising now has a population of under 400.

With businesses like the Christmas Mall - a gift shop now closed and the site of where the giant Santa is still located along the highway - the jolly town was once a popular place to pick up decorations, postcards, and so on. In 1966, the first post office opened in Christmas and since then, thousands of holiday cards have been sent around the globe with the town’s name postmarked on the envelopes. Because the post office in Christmas is no longer in operation, the Munising branch will now postmark envelopes in the same fashion when asked.

Christmas is home to various businesses including Christmas Auto Repair, Foggy’s Steakhouse, Kewadin Casino Christmas, Lume Cannabis Co. Christmas, White Pine Lodge, Margo’s Cove, Yule Log Resort, the Duck Pond, Paddler’s Village, Grand Island Cruises, the Paddler’s Inn, and more. Information about most of them can be found here.

Other attractions in the area include Bay Furnace Historic Site and Interpretive Trail and the Grand Island Harbor Range Lights.

The Bay Furnace area includes a seasonal campground located near the shores of Lake Superior, overlooking Grand Island. The short self-guided interpretive trail circles around restored ruins of a blast furnace where pig iron was made between 1870 and 1877. During its heyday, the furnace produced around 3,500 tons of pig iron per year. The road to the site is not plowed during the winter but there are picnic tables if you want to have lunch or enjoy the views during the warmer months.

The Grand Island Harbor Range Lights, also known as the “Bay Furnace Lights,” were established in 1867. The front light is located along the water’s edge, while the rear light is across the highway off M-28. Both lights are now inactive but beautiful, nonetheless.