Walton's Mountain - Mountain 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: Grandpa Zeb (Will Geer), Grandma Esther (Ellen Corby), their married son John (Ralph Waite) his wife Olivia (Michael Learned) and their children John Boy (Richard Thomas/Robert Wightman), Mary Ellen (Judy Norton-Taylor), Jim-Bob (David W. Harper), Elizabeth (Kami Cotler), Jason (Jon Walmsley), Erin (Mary Elizabeth McDonough), and Ben (Eric Scott). 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. 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 1950s motion picture Spencer's Mountain, a precursor to the series and the made-for-TV movie The Homecoming (1971) which was the pilot for the series. 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."