It has been almost 40 years since "The Waltons" final episode ran on CBS. Despite this, the fame of television's, depression-era Virginia family lives on at the Walton's Mountain Museum in Schuyler, VA. If you're a fan of the award-winning television program, you owe it to yourself to visit!
These days, the name "Walton" is more often associated with an American multinational retail chain than it is a popular television show. For those of us who grew up in the 70's, however, the name "Walton" still brings up memories of John-Boy, Mary Ellen, Grandpa, Ike Godsey, and the rest.
"The Waltons" aired for nine seasons, between 1972 and 1981, on CBS. The series was based upon the book "Spencer's Mountain" by Earl Hamner Jr., who also narrated each show. While the television series took place on a fictional "Walton's Mountain," in Virginia, and the book on "Spencer's Mountain" in Wyoming, both are actually based on Hamner's hometown of Schuyler, VA. Consequently, it should come as no surprise that the Walton's Mountain Museum is located right here in Schuyler, VA. In fact, the museum is housed in Earl Hamner, Jr.'s old high school!
Visiting the Walton's Mountain Museum is a special experience that blends both history and nostalgia with just a touch of Hollywood.
The museum has seven rooms containing memorabilia and replicas of sets from the television series. You can visit the Waltons' kitchen, living room, and John-Boy's bedroom. You'll see the radio the family used to cluster around, Mary Ellen's wedding dress, and even Judge Baldwin's whiskey still. Sadly, no samples of the Judge's "recipe" are offered. Where are the Baldwin Sisters when you need them?
The museum gift shop is housed in a replica of Godsey's General Mercantile and contains a number fun and fascinating exhibits. You'll expect Ike and Cora Beth to appear at any moment.
Visiting Walton's Mountain Museum is a great way to step back in time to both the television show of the 70's and the real world of rural, depression era, Virginia. Don't miss it!
6484 Rockfish River Rd, Schuyler, VA 22969 The museum is open from the first Saturday in March to the first Sunday in December, 10am to 4pm. Visit www.waltonmuseum.org for more information.
Central Virginia Lodging Visiting Walton's Mountain Museum is a great idea - but they're not going to let you sleep in John-Boy's bedroom! For real comfort and value in lodging during you Virginia getaway, stay at a locally owned and operated Virginia B&B.
Located twenty-five miles south of Charlottesville in the foothills of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountain range you will find the small hamlet of Schuyler.
The main story is set in Walton's Mountain, a fictional mountain community in the fictitious Jefferson County, Virginia. The real place upon which the stories are based is the community of Schuyler in Nelson County, Virginia.
People have been asking for more than four decades if "the family is real" and "is there a 'real' Walton's Mountain?" The answer is yes. Though the names might be different Earl Hamner based the show on his memories of growing up in rural Virginia with his family during the depression.
Open weekends in April thru December: Saturdays 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM and Sundays 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM. Group tours other times: Call 434-263-8400 www.oakland-museum.org.
The new owners, Carole Johnson of Ukiah, California, Ray Castro of New Jersey, and Kirstin DeMaio of Michigan, plan to open it up for tours. The Waltons Hamner House opens Friday and tickets will be available at the Walton Mountain Museum across the street.
The original house that served as the backdrop to Hamner's childhood was built in the early 20th century in the village of Schuyler in Nelson County, where it still stands today.
In real life, John-Boy was indeed Hamner, creator and narrator of the show as well as author of Spencer's Mountain. Now he is gone. He was 92, a veteran of World War II, one of America's best-loved writers and, as the narrator of The Waltons, a much-loved voice.
Michael Learned (born April 9, 1939) is an American actress, known for her role as Olivia Walton in the long-running CBS drama series The Waltons (1972–1981). ...
Michael Learned
Learned in a publicity photo as Olivia Walton, 1972
The three most prominent living members (Jim, Rob, and Alice Walton) have consistently been in the top twenty of the Forbes 400 list since 2001, as were John ( d. 2005) and Helen (d. 2007) prior to their deaths.
The Walton family is still the major shareholder of Walmart Inc. The children of Walmart founder Sam Walton own about half of all Walmart shares, according to official company documents.
Locations: For ease of logistics like Spencer's Mountain had done before, exteriors were filmed in the Grand Teton Mountains of Wyoming instead of the Blue Ridge where the story is set.
On the back lot of the Warner Brothers film studios in Burbank, California, is where the iconic exterior shots were filmed. And, how the house was arranged isn't at all what we would have guessed. Judy Norton, who played Mary Ellen Walton on the show, recently revealed just how the sound stage was set up.
Norton revealed that the opening sequence was actually filmed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. In the scene, the Walton children are walking through a deep portion of snow, as Norton points out, and it fits with the time period that the movie was shot.
In the foothills of the lovely old Blue Ridge Mountains… … Lies the small town of Schulyer, Virginia, home of the Hamner family – the real-life family on which the Waltons were based. The mountain town of Schuyler is home to about 400 residents, and there the two-story Hamner family home still stands.
The original truck is housed in the Walmart Heritage Museum in Bentonville. The museum's director, Alan Dranow, called Walton's truck a “symbol of humility” and frugality.
Studios that destroyed the farmhouse used in the TV series The Waltons was set by an arsonist, according to Burbank, Calif., fire officials. Burn patterns indicated that a flammable substance was splashed around a chicken coop on the set and inside the house, an arson investigator said Wednesday.
The house will have a similar porch and first floor as the home portrayed in the popular '70s TV show, said Ray Castro, who co-owns the Waltons Hamner House with Carole Johnson, both long-time fans of the show.
Based on the author's own family background and childhood experiences, and the basis for the classic motion picture featuring Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara, Spencer's Mountain is a moving celebration of familial love and commitment in the face of overwhelming odds.
Hamner was the real "John Boy" in the show, which was based on his book, Spencer's Mountain. 45th anniversary of "The Waltons." The home sold for $249,000.
The character Jim Bob had one ambition: to learn to fly an airplane. While he was medically unfit for the Air Corps, in the final movies he had indeed become a pilot, flying crop dusting and charter flights. The only sibling on the series who had his own room in the house was John-Boy.
The love stories carried over behind the scenes. Ma and Pa Walton — Ralph Waite and Michael Learned — quietly fell on love on set. And remember Jason and Toni, who we just mentioned in the prior paragraph? Well, actors Jon Walmsley and Lisa Harrison tied the knot in real life in 1979!
Then Curt was killed at Pearl Harbor in the 1978 season, and Mary Ellen found new love with Arlington Wescott "Jonesy" Jones (Richard Gililand) while taking premed courses. The romance was threatened when Curt was discovered not to have died after all, but the two decided their marriage had ended and divorced.
Mary Ellen marries Dr. Curtis Willard and they have 1 child, John Curtis, before he is lost and presumed dead after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Eventually she remarries Arlington Westcott Jones "Jonesy" and together they have 2 children, Clay and Katie.
Mary Ellen Trainor (born July 8, 1952 - May 20, 2015) was an American character actress best known for her roles as LAPD psychiatrist Dr. Stephanie Woods in the Lethal Weapon films, newscaster Gail Wallens in Die Hard and Ricochet, and working mother Irene Walsh in The Goonies.
Outside of acting, Thomas is a happily married family man in his hometown of New York. He has a son, Montana, with his wife Georgiana Bischoff and four children from his first marriage to Alma Gonzales -- Richard Francisco, Pilar, Barbara, and Gwyneth.
The inn features five bedrooms and five bathrooms. There is the grandparents' room, the parents' room, the writer's room (meaning John Boy's), the boys' room and the girls' room.
The house that served as The Walton family home ultimately became the model for The Dragonfly Inn. The original set had to be rebuilt after a studio fire and then relocated to Warner Bros. Studio. That set was used for the 1993 movie, as well as appearing in several other films and television shows.
Olivia is leaving Walton's Mountain, hustled off with tuberculosis to an Arizona sanatorium while her family somehow forges a path between unbearable grief and unbearable stoicism.
Learned reportedly decided to quit thinking she had enough money to sustain herself and her children but it proved otherwise in the future as she herself confessed. Michael Learned's exit from The Waltons was announced through tuberculosis of her character, Olivia Walton and her subsequent stay at the sanatorium.
This first Walton child is known throughout the series as "John-Boy," is born in 1916, is the eldest son and child of Olivia Walton (née Daly) and John Walton Sr.
Meet Walmart heir Lukas Walton, one of the richest millennials in the world: with a US$20 billion net worth at 36, he's focusing on philanthropy over the retail empire his grandad Sam Walton founded.
Walton's management of the family finances, including running Stawberry Hill, after her husband's death around 1855. There are, however, few items relating directly to plantation management or to the more than 100 slaves the Walton's owned.
(doing business as Sam's Club) is an American chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs owned and operated by Walmart Inc., founded in 1983 and named after Walmart founder Sam Walton as Sam's Wholesale Club.
In September 2016, she owned over US$11 billion in Walmart shares. As of October 2022, Walton has a net worth of $59 billion, making her the 19th-richest person, and the second richest woman in the world according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Newport, Arkansas, U.S.
The Walmart heirs' combined worth is more than $155 billion, according to Forbes. The family grants money and resources to support education, environmental efforts, and their home community through the Walton Family Foundation.
“Many of the places mentioned on the series actually do exist in Schuyler.” While filmed on location in California, the fictional Walton family would have been at home in the tiny town of about 300 residents 40 minutes southwest of Charlottesville, Va., in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Marion Hamner Hawkes, 74, who inspired the strong, sometimes feisty tomboy character of Mary Ellen on television's “The Waltons,” died of liver and kidney failure Monday at a hospice in Williamsburg, Va.
In addition to the Walton characters, other roles, such as the “recipe-making” Baldwin sisters and General Store owner, Ike Godsey were also inspired by real people.
The original house that served as the backdrop to Hamner's childhood was built in the early 20th century in the village of Schuyler in Nelson County, where it still stands today.
In the foothills of the lovely old Blue Ridge Mountains… … Lies the small town of Schulyer, Virginia, home of the Hamner family – the real-life family on which the Waltons were based. The mountain town of Schuyler is home to about 400 residents, and there the two-story Hamner family home still stands.
On the back lot of the Warner Brothers film studios in Burbank, California, is where the iconic exterior shots were filmed. And, how the house was arranged isn't at all what we would have guessed. Judy Norton, who played Mary Ellen Walton on the show, recently revealed just how the sound stage was set up.
ANSWER: Mary Ellen (Judy Norton-Taylor) married Dr. Curtis Willard in the 1977 season, and they had a baby. Then Curt was killed at Pearl Harbor in the 1978 season, and Mary Ellen found new love with Arlington Wescott "Jonesy" Jones (Richard Gililand) while taking premed courses.
Ellen Corby died in 1999, but she is remembered as Grandma Walton on the hit television show, The Waltons. Her work on the show earned her three Emmy awards. Yet her career almost ended in 1976 after a stroke that left her with aphasia.
They reprised their roles as the Baldwin sisters for TV movies A Walton Wedding (1995) and A Walton Easter (1997). Helen Kleeb passed away just shy of her 97th birthday in late December, 2003. Two years later, Mary Jackson died shortly after her 95th birthday in December of 2005.
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It has been almost 40 years since "The Waltons" final episode ran on CBS. Despite this, the fame of television's, depression-era Virginia family lives on at the Walton's Mountain Museum in Schuyler, VA. If you're a fan of the award-winning television program, you owe it to yourself to visit!
