Does anyone know where Hilldale was supposed to be?
Does the show ever say? If not, where do you think it was?

Does anyone know where Hilldale was supposed to be?
Does the show ever say? If not, where do you think it was?
I think it was the next town over from Mayfield!! It was common in the late 50's and 60's for TV shows to use generic sounding city names so that viewers from all parts of the country could relate to it feel like it must be in their part of the country.

Does anyone know where Hilldale was supposed to be?
Does the show ever say? If not, where do you think it was?

I agree with the above poster, but to add, even though it was just a one time episode, but Dennis The Menace was called a nieghbor when he spent an episode with Donna!

Now during Christmas, it snowed on Dennis during Christmas, I think the one Donna Reed Christmas episode had no snow. And just to add, in Father's Knows Best they had to travel a few hours to get stranded in a holiday snowstorm. I think too much....lol.....

I always picture Hilldale as a Midwestern community, probably somewhere halfway between Kansas City and St. Louis. (Come to think of it, Columbia, Missouri is halfway between Kansas City and St. Louis. Trouble is, Hilldale, as I remember, wasn't a college town.)

I think Hilldale is halfway between Mayfield and Hooterville!! :lol:

Like so many movies and series, the location of principle places is encoded in obscurity. Trying to follow the clues within the various episodes is dodgey. I got a whole bunch of vectors from going through the available DVDs, but nothing say "X marks the spot." However, strong indications are that Hilldale is in the Central Time Zone, but that for a location is almost useless. HillSdale Michigan (?) would put a college close by, but the series avoided snow like a vampire avoid sunshine.

Anybody want to go through my winkling this out?

In the episode where Donna and Alex believe Jeff and his girlfriend are getting married, Alex mentions that it's legal in Idaho, which is 583 miles away from Hilldale. Today's episode, where Donna has to be sedated because she's so excited about a speech Alex has to make in NYC, they are an hour behind New York time. I figure they're someplace in Kansas.

I will pull this thread out of storage, 'cause the subject has been driving me to distraction. The clues the show gives are all over the place: In a few episodes, members of the family drive to skiing vacations; in at least one, "the beach" is mentioned. Illinois is a good guess, as every time one turns around, Chicago is talked about ad nauseum: someone is going there or coming from there or was the scene of some long-ago incident. In one scene Donna uses the word "up" as in, up to Chicago. But, there are no places to ski that I know of in IL and surrounding states and as another poster said, the show avoids snow like a vampire avoids sunshine. Where are there both skiing and beaches? Los Angeles County, California. But there are no clues to that being the location.

Northwest Indiana is in close proximity to Chicago and there are beaches along the southern tip of Lake Michigan. Skiiing - see below. I think the area is on the Central Time Zone like mentioned in this thread; just a little east in Indiana it's an Eastern zone.


Edit: According to an online source, these are the only ski resorts in Indiana -

Paoli Peaks, Paoli, IN
Perfect North Slopes, Lawrenceburg, IN

Northwest Indiana is in close proximity to Chicago and there are beaches along the southern tip of Lake Michigan. Skiiing - see below. I think the area is on the Central Time Zone like mentioned in this thread; just a little east in Indiana it's an Eastern zone.


Edit: According to an online source, these are the only ski resorts in Indiana -

Paoli Peaks, Paoli, IN
Perfect North Slopes, Lawrenceburg, IN
I had forgotten about IN, and I have had family in Indianapolis since childhood...over 60 years! As a matter of point, twenty years ago, I drove from a visit to my Indy uncle to Chi-town to see a love interest I was chasing.