Santa Claus has come to Christmas Tree Lane in Alameda. He’s there every day at 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm, weather permitting. Christmas Tree Lane, AKA Thompson Avenue is between High and Fernside and most of the homeowners decorate their homes lavishly. Homeowners on Christmas Tree Lane will display their lighted homes each evening from 5:30 to 10:00 pm.
The families on Christmas Tree Lane have decorated their homes with fun scenes and lighted holiday figures. The City owned Alameda Municipal Power provides a portion of the electrical costs free to the neighbors.
The popular Christmas Tree Lane on the 3200 block of Thompson Avenue is always a crowd pleaser. The residents of Thompson Avenue take pains to decorate their homes with wonderful figures, lights and holiday scenes. The whole effect is a charming seasonal event. Santa will visit Christmas Lane and pose for photos every night until December 23. Kids are encouraged to drop off their letters to Santa at the mailbox on Thompson Avenue.
Since 1938, residents of the 3200 block of Thompson Avenue have been making Alameda a little merrier as they transform their quiet East End street into a North Pole wonderland.
At some point during the past seven decades the street became known as “Christmas Tree Lane,” with thousands of people from all over the Bay
Area visiting the block's elaborately decorated homes.
The Christmas Tree Lane tradition began during the Depression when
two families of cousins who lived on the block decided to string lights
from their homes to the then-small trees on the avenue’s median strip.
They decorated the trees with handmade ornaments and displayed their own
Christmas trees in their windows. Soon other neighbors joined in and
the street became known around town for its lighted displays.
Today the displays have become much more elaborate and the trees in the median strip have grown so tall it now requires a truck with a lift to decorate them.
In the 1970s Santa Claus made his first visits to the Christmas Tree Lane. Neighborhood children and passing out candy canes to visitors acting as Santa's helpers. A mailbox for Letters to Santa was provided for kids who missed Santa but could still let him know what they want.
The best way to see the homes is to walk the block. Some of the decorations are animated so you should linger to see the full show.
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