Editing North Pole, Alaska (section)

==Description==
[[File:North Pole Alaska Welcome.jpg|thumb|left|Frequently photographed "Welcome to North Pole" sign at the eastern end of Fifth Avenue, near its intersection with the [[Richardson Highway]].]]
The city is a summertime attraction for tourists visiting nearby Fairbanks and, due to its location on the [[Richardson Highway]], those traveling to and from the [[Alaska Highway]] and [[Valdez, Alaska|Valdez]]. North Pole was home to two oil refineries, the town's major industry aside from tourism, but closed because of [[sulfolane]] contamination in groundwater. The larger refinery, operated by [[Flint Hills Resources]], was a major source of jet fuel for [[Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport]]. Tanker car traffic on the [[Alaska Railroad]], entering and leaving the refinery, frequently bisects the city.

North Pole's biggest attraction is a gift shop named Santa Claus House, the modern-day incarnation of a trading post (gift shop) established in the town's early days. The Santa Claus House is known for the world's largest fiberglass statue of [[Santa Claus]] outside. A small group of domesticated [[reindeer]] are just outside.

Before [[Christmas]] each year, the [[United States Postal Service|USPS]] [[post office]] in North Pole receives hundreds of thousands of letters to Santa Claus, and thousands more from people wanting the town's [[postmark]] on their Christmas [[greeting card]]s to their families. It advertises the [[ZIP code]] 99705 as the ZIP code of Santa. A community program also responds to letters addressed to 1 Santa Claus Lane.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://about.usps.com/news/state-releases/ak/2011/ak_2011_1108.htm|title=Postal Service offers North Pole postmark through Dec. 10|website=about.usps.com}}</ref>

Christmas-themed streets in North Pole include Santa Claus Lane, St. Nicholas Drive, Snowman Lane, and Kris Kringle Drive. Street lights in the city are decorated in a [[candy cane]] motif, and many local businesses have similar decorations. The city's firetrucks and ambulances are all red, while the police cars are green and white. The city also has an all-female flat-track [[Roller derby|Roller Derby]] league, the North Pole Babes in Toyland (NPBT), whose athletes have Christmas and North Pole-inspired Skater names.

North Pole has some of the least expensive residential real estate in Alaska; the median home price there is $211,184 in 2014.<ref>{{cite web|title=Alaska Homes For Sale By City|url=http://www.realestate.com/state/AK/|work=Alaska Real Estate Trends|publisher=RealEstate.com|access-date=January 28, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018054255/http://www.realestate.com/state/AK/|archive-date=October 18, 2014}}</ref>{{When|date=January 2024}}