People always refer to shows like LITB and Father Knows Best as "suburban." But was Mayfield really a suburb? If so, what on earth was it a suburb of? The presence of a downtown area seems to indicate that it is a small town in the same sense as Mayberry. Opinions?

Mid-size town. In Beaver the Bunny we found out there was a bus that ran along Grant Avenue. A small town usually doesn't have buses.

Just iike Springfield in Father Knows Best. There are several clues in that shows that point to Illinois. References to Chicago, Rockford, Gurnee.

Mayfield had their own stadium like in Poor Loser. I believe Mayfield was a suburb of Dodoma in Tanzania.

Mule Saunders built a larger stadium in Riverside. Next to his beauty parlor.

I thought Mayfield was is Tasmania. Don't you remember the episode, Beaver and the Tasmanian Devil?

That would have been better than Beaver, the Bunny.

In Father Knows Best, Springfield even had a college.

They had a suave and sophisticated area called Orleans St. The Saks Fifth Avenue of Springfield.

Complete with Sgt. Shultz painting portraits.

they had a country club too, that almost every man in the neighborhood was a member of....and Ward's office was located downtown too..

I think it is a cozy, between small and medium-sized, rural town.

What would a medium to large town have that a small one wouldn't? Is it population or acreage that decides what makes a town small, medium, or large?

They had a youth organization in the works, Briggs Sporting Goods, Tildens, Abernathy Potts, White Fox restaurant, the restaurant in Beaver Won’t Eat, restaurants Ward went to with clients, car dealers, a stadium, athletic area, Gorman’s Department store, several others and many buildings full of lawyers, dentists, brokers and Ward’s building. I’d say it was a big city.

They had a youth organization in the works, Briggs Sporting Goods, Tildens, Abernathy Potts, White Fox restaurant, the restaurant in Beaver Won’t Eat, restaurants Ward went to with clients, car dealers, a stadium, athletic area, Gorman’s Department store, several others and many buildings full of lawyers, dentists, brokers and Ward’s building. I’d say it was a big city.

So on that view, where the Cleavers lived would indeed be a suburb or residential area outside of the main city of Mayfield.

Are there any other local high schools mentioned besides Wally's "Mayfield High"?

That it is not called "Mayfield Central" or "Mayfield North" (etc etc) seems to imply that the town is not huge.

Multiple grade schools, one nominal high school.......that sounds like 15-25,000 population size to me.

Growing up in a rural farm town of 10,000. We had three 7 grade schools, 3 were k-8 because they were so far out in the boondocks. There was one Jr. High and one High school that everyone attended.

In Mother’s Helper the girl mentions she goes to Union High so maybe two high schools. Also in Beaver On TV they show kids on Teenage Forum at least one kid from another grammar school in Mayfield. When Beaver graduates from grammar school I think Wally says there were several grammar schools in Mayfield.

Yes, Wally mentions there are X grammar schools in Mayfield, maybe 4 or 5.

I consider it a larger sized town that never quite became a city but had virtually everything its residents would have needed at that time. It could be that a good number of its service personnel came from nearby tiny towns and they'd commute back and forth on a daily basis. Now whether this dynamic survived the 1980's as is and what the place would be like in the 2020's, I have no idea!

Margie may go to Union High but it could be in a neighboring town. When Wally makes the statement about 4 or 5 grammar schools in Mayfield, I think he says those kids all end up going to Mayfield High.

Is there anything definitive specifying that when Ward states he is working "downtown",... that he is specifically intending "downtown Mayfield"?

I'm thinking possibly he could be working at an urban center that perhaps Mayfield is a satellite of?

Yes, Wally mentions there are X grammar schools in Mayfield, maybe 4 or 5.

I figured that must be the case because they specify "Grant Avenue school", and typically when they name them that way it is often to distinguish them from others in the same system. Same for schools with neighborhood names.

What would a medium to large town have that a small one wouldn't?

Anonymity....

Is there anything definitive specifying that when Ward states he is working "downtown",... that he is specifically intending "downtown Mayfield"?

I'm thinking possibly he could be working at an urban center that perhaps Mayfield is a satellite of?

The only thing we know is that he works in a building with 9034 above the entrance. It looks like a downtown-type setting.

It's probably supposed to be Mayfield since in the episode where Beaver "flatted" the tire from Ward's car, Fred spots Beaver and Wally rolling the tire down the sidewalk. "Those look like your lads, Ward."

Mayfield Motor Vehicle Department ... Hmmm - In my home state the "Registry" is in major cities and and Not named for the city but for the state ...