 Walton's Mountain - Mountain top
residence of the Walton family featured on the rural drama THE
WALTONS/CBS/1972-81. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains in
Jefferson County, Virginia, "Walton's Mountain" was the home of
three generations of the Walton Family including:
- Will Geer as Grandpa Zeb Walton
- Ellen Corby as Grandma Esther Walton
- Ralph Waite as John Walton, their married son
- Michael Learned as his wife, Olivia
- Richard Thomas as eldest son, John Boy
- Judy Norton-Taylor as daughter, Mary Ellen
- David W. Harper as son, Jim-Bob
- Kami Cotler as daughter, Elizabeth
- Jon Walmsley as son, Jason
- Mary Elizabeth McDonough as daughter, Erin
- Eric Scott as son, Ben.
From the days of the Depression through the Second World War, the
family lived and loved, and supported themselves with an income
produced by the family's small lumber mill operated by Grandpa Zeb
and John Walton.
Other friends and nearby residents of Walton's Mountains
included:
- Joe Conley as Ike Godsey (The Local Grocer)
- Ronnie Claire Edwards as Corabeth Godsey
- John Crawford as Sheriff Ep Bridges
- Helen Kleeb as Mamie Baldwin
- Mary Jackson as Emily Baldwin
- Mary Wickes as Octvia (Baldwin's Cousin)
- Lynn Hamilton as Verdie Foster
- John Ritter as Rev. Mathew Fordwick
- Mariclare Costello as Rosemary Hunter Fordwick
- Robert Donner as Yancy Tucker
- Nora Marlowe as Flossie Brimmer
- Merie Earle as Maude Gormsley
- Tom Bower as Dr. Curtis Willard
- Peter Fox as Rev. Hank Buchanan
- Lewis Arquette as J.D. Picket
- Michael Reed as John Curtis Willard
- Leslie Winston as Cindy Brunson Walton
- Peggy Rea as Rose Burton
- Martha Nix as Serena Burton
- Keith Mitchell as Jeffrey Burton
- Lisa Harrison as Ton Hazleton
- Richard Gilliland as Arlington Wescott Jones
- Victor Izay as Doc Vance
At the end of the series, after the death of both grandparents,
John Walton sold the mill to his son Ben. John accompanied his wife
to California so she could recuperate from Tuberculosis.
The program was filmed on sound stages and backlots of the
Burbank Studios in Burbank, California with additional location
shooting done in nearby areas to do mountain and woodland scenes.
The towns of Hickory Creek, Waynesboro and Charlottesville were
nearby municipalities mentioned on the series.
THE WALTON'S was based on the childhood memories of writer Earl
Hamner, Jr. who narrated each episode. He had previously written the
script for the 1960s motion picture Spencer's Mountain
(1963), a precursor to the series and the made-for-TV movie pilot
The Homecoming (1971).
The series spawned a number of two-hour TV-Movies that brought
the family back to Walton's Mountain. They included:
- A Decade of the Walton's (05/22/1980) CBS
- A Wedding on Walton's Mountain (02/22/1982) NBC
- Mother's Day on Walton's Mountain (05/09/1982) NBC
- A Day for Thanks on Walton's Mountain (11/22/1982) NBC
- A Walton Thanksgiving (11/21/1993) CBS
- A Walton Wedding (02/12/1995) CBS
- A Walton Easter (03/31/1997) CBS
In real-life, Hamner's family lived in the small town of Schuyler,
Virginia (pop. 400). On October 24, 1992, some 6,000 zealous fans
converged on the friendly hamlet of Schuyler for the opening of the
Walton's Mountain Museum which showcased replicas of the famous
Walton kitchen, living room, John-Boy's bedroom and Ike Godsey's
store.
The museum was conceived by Schuyler county supervisor Woody
Greenberg to boost the town's economy. With the exception of John
Boy's eyeglasses, most of the museum was filled with furniture from
antique stores and thrift shops because the "Waltons" sets were
destroyed by a fire at the Warner Brothers Studios in late 1991
(People Weekly 11/9/92 p.63-64).
TRIVIA NOTE: In 1987, genealogy
researcher Johni Cerny traced the roots of comedian Bill Cosby
through three generations of slaves in an area known as Walton's
Mountain. Documented in the special 75th anniversary issue of
National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Cerny established that Bill
Cosby was a descendant of Zach Cosby, a freed slave who reared 18
children on Walton's Mountain in Nelson County, Virginia, after the
Civil War. The same mountain which was the inspiration for THE
WALTONS.
On the episode "The One with the Boobies" of the sitcom
FRIENDS/NBC/1994-2004. Joey Tribianni (Matt LeBlanc) comments on his
family's dysfunctional situation "Yeah. He's (Joey's dad) gonna keep
cheating on my Ma, like she wanted. My Ma's gonna keep pretending
she doesn't know, even though she does. And my little sister, Tina
can't see her husband anymore 'cause he got a restraining
order-which has nothing to do with anything, except, I found our
today." His friend Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) responds "Things
sure have changed here on Walton's Mountain.
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