This Upstate New York Poem Changed Christmas Forever

Did you know one of the most beloved Christmas poems in the world actually traces its roots back to Upstate New York?

Before most of us ever called it “’Twas the Night Before Christmas”, it quietly debuted in the pages of a local newspaper.

Where ’Twas the Night Before Christmas Was First Published

“A Visit from St. Nicholas,” better known today as “’Twas the Night Before Christmas,” has long been credited to Clement Clarke Moore. Moore was a wealthy New York City language professor and Bible scholar. He originally wrote the poem for his children, never expecting it to become famous. But on December 23rd, 1823, it was first published in the Troy Sentinel, right here in Upstate New York.

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The poem appeared without Moore’s name on it, and for the next fourteen years it continued to be reprinted anonymously as it spread far beyond Troy. Editors and readers loved it, and it traveled from town to town, making its “swift and merry” way, much like Santa’s sleigh, all around the world. You can read the original version of the poem online here if you want to see how it first appeared on the page.

How the Poem Shaped the Modern Santa

The poem has been called “arguably the best-known verses ever written by an American”, and that doesn’t feel like an exaggeration. Its cultural impact is massive. Before it gained wide popularity, American ideas about Saint Nicholas and other Christmas visitors varied quite a bit. The familiar version of Santa that many of us picture today: the jolly figure in a sleigh with reindeer, slipping down chimneys on Christmas Eve.

Why the Poem Spread Worldwide Without Moore’s Name

As its popularity grew, “A Visit from St. Nicholas” was eventually set to music and recorded by countless artists. It became a reading tradition in homes across the country, passed down from one generation to the next every Christmas Eve.

Where the Surviving Original Copies Are Today

Only four handwritten copies of the poem are known to exist. Three of them are in museums, including one at the New-York Historical Society library. The fourth copy, written out and signed by Clement Clarke Moore as a gift to a friend in 1860, was sold from one private collector to another in December 2006. It reportedly fetched $280,000 and went to an unnamed chief executive officer of a media company who lives in New York City.

So the next time you curl up and read “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” on Christmas Eve, remember this: if it wasn’t for the Albany region and Upstate New York, that classic holiday ritual might look very different today.