Is Waltons Mountain a real place?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Costars Allen and Thomas developed their deep romance during filming. In fact, it was likely due to their relationship that, months later, The Waltons cast Allen to play John-Boy's romantic interest in "The Love Story," an episode that aired late in the first season.
All of the Waltons were based on real people — Hamner's family, his grandfather and grandmother, his father and mother, and his brothers and sisters, of whom there were seven in the show but eight in real life.
The Baldwin sisters were loosely based on a mother-daughter duo that was well-known in Hamner's family because “they had a love of alcohol.” Hamner changed the relationship, gave them sweet personalities and made them a bit loftier and more elegant than their down-home, real-life counterparts.
They tied the knot in real life in nuptials officiated by Walton dad Ralph Waite, a minister in real life. “He took it very seriously and did a really terrific ceremony,” Walmsley said.
Was there a real John-Boy Walton?
The real life John-Boy, Earl Hamner Jr., who created 'The Waltons,' dies at age 92. LOS ANGELES — Earl Hamner Jr., the versatile and prolific writer who drew upon his Depression-era upbringing in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to create one of television's most beloved family shows, The Waltons, has died.
Drew goes away to college. Drew later returns to Walton's Mountain to work in the mill, and Elizabeth tells her father that she will eventually marry Drew.
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.
The final episode, titled “The Revel,” aired on June 4, 1981. In the episode, John-Boy goes to New York to pursue his writing career but arrives to find that his manuscript has been rejected. His publisher's secretary gives him enough money to return home and advises him to start a new book. He returned home dejected.
Michael Learned didn't like TV acting
The show indicates that she's being treated for tuberculosis in Arizona, but Learned didn't return to Walton's Mountain until the reunion films.
“We've also had to make some modern conveniences — the Waltons only had one bathroom,” Johnson said, noting each room in the bed-and-breakfast will have a bathroom. In the Depression-era, wood was the exterior of the Hamner house and the home depicted on “The Waltons.”
John-Boy loses his completed novel in order to save Erin. As John, Grandpa and John-Boy make repairs, the family must send the younger children to friends and neighbors. A fire breaks out and burns most of the house.
Bill Hamner (l) died in 1989. His wife, Brenda, lives in the Richmond, Virginia area. Bill's three children are Harold, Hope and Gail. Paul Hamner (r) lives in Tom's River, New Jersey and is retired from the Baker Shoe Store chain.
Most of the exterior scenes were shot in Burbank on the backlot known as the Warner Bros. Ranch. Rural areas, such as the Waltons' house, various dirt roads, Ike Godsey's store and Drucilla's Pond were shot on the Jungle set.
