Christmas is an
unincorporated area
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
and
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
in
Orange County, Florida
Orange County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the county had a population of 1,429,908, making it the fifth-most populous county in Florida and the List of ...
, United States. It is part of
Greater Orlando
The Orlando metropolitan area (officially, for U.S. census purposes, the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area) is an inland metropolitan area in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. Its principal cities ...
.
The population was 1,146 at the 2010 census.
Christmas is home to the world's largest
alligator
An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus ''Alligator'' of the Family (biology), family Alligatoridae in the Order (biology), order Crocodilia. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mis ...
-shaped building, measuring at just over ; to
Fort Christmas Historical Park, a recreation of the Second
Seminole War
The Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) were a series of three military conflicts between the United States and the Seminoles that took place in Florida between about 1816 and 1858. The Seminoles are a Native American nation which co ...
Fort Christmas; and to Fort Christmas Folk School, a nonprofit school dedicated to teaching folk arts. Every year, Christmas sends a large amount of mail from its
post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
from people who mail letters from the town so they can have the "Christmas" postmark on their holiday mailings.
Christmas is the birthplace of the American sculptor James Hughlette "Tex" Wheeler, who is buried in the
Fort Christmas Cemetery.
Christmas is home to many Orlando digital TV stations' transmission towers.
History
On December 25, 1837, a force of 2,000 U.S. Army soldiers and Alabama Volunteers arrived in the area to construct a fort, which they named
Fort Christmas. The fort was one of over 200 forts built during the
Second Seminole War
The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between the United States and groups of people collectively known as Seminoles, consisting of Muscogee, Creek and Black Seminoles as well as oth ...
. In 1892, a Post Office opened at Christmas.
Geography
Christmas is located at (28.5324, -80.9940).
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the Christmas CDP (Census Designated Place) has a total area of , all land.
Popular culture
Christmas is one of the many settings in
John Green
John Michael Green (born August 24, 1977) is an American author and YouTuber. His books have more than 50 million copies in print worldwide, including ''The Fault in Our Stars'' (2012), which is one of the List of best-selling books#Bet ...
's 2008 novel ''
Paper Towns
Paper Towns may refer to:
* ''Paper Towns'' (novel), a 2008 novel by John Green
* ''Paper Towns'' (film), a 2015 film based on the novel
* ''Paper Towns'' (soundtrack), the soundtrack to the film
* Paper towns or phantom settlements, settlemen ...
''. In the book, three
Orlando
Orlando commonly refers to:
* Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States
Orlando may also refer to:
People
* Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name
* Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...
high school students embark on a journey to find their friend, who has recently gone missing. An old abandoned
mini-mall
A strip mall, strip center, strip plaza or simply plaza is a type of shopping center common in North America and Australia where the stores are arranged in a row, with a footpath in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have l ...
in Christmas is one of the places where they search for her and find clues vital to her case.
Demographics
US Census 2020
As of the
2020 United States census, there were 1,310 people, 546 households, and 450 families residing in the CDP.
US Census 2000 and 2010
As of the
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2010, there were 1,146 people (down from 1,162 in the 2000 Census), 422 households (up from 420 in the 2000 Census), and 304 families (the same as in the 2000 Census) residing in the Christmas CDP (Census Designated Place).
As of the 2000 Census, the
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was 125.7/km (325.3/mi²). There were 446 housing units at an average density of 48.2/km (124.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the Christmas CDP was 95.44%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.43%
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.69%
Native American, 0.95%
Asian, 0.60% from
other races, and 1.89% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino of any race were 2.15% of the population.
As of 2010 there were 422 households, of which 34.8% had children under the age of 18 (up from 30.5% in the 2000 census) living with them, 50.5% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together (up from 49.5% in 2000), 12.1% had a female householder with no male present (down from 14.0% in the 2000 Census), 9.5% had a male householder with no female present (data from the 2000 Census is not available) and 28% were non-families (up from 27.6% in 2000). 25.4% of the households had individuals 65 years of age or older (a dramatic increase from the 8.3% in 2000). The average household size was 2.72 (2.77 in 2000) and the average family size was 2.99 (down from 3.08 in 2000).
In the Christmas Census Designated Place (CDP), as of the 2010 Census, the median age was 41 years old (up from 37 years old in the 2000 Census). In 2010, 46.9% of the residents of the Christmas CDP were women and 53.1% were males.
The median income for a household in the Christmas CDP was not available for the 2010 Census.
[All 2010 U.S. Census data provided here was quoted from th]
US Census Bureau's website
on 2 October 2012
Panoramic view
References
External links
Ft. Christmas Historical ParkWorld's Largest Alligator
{{authority control
Unincorporated communities in Orange County, Florida
Census-designated places in Orange County, Florida
Greater Orlando
Census-designated places in Florida
Unincorporated communities in Florida