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Mayberry was a small rural town which is remembered as much for its slow-paced life as it was for the unique characters that inhabited it. Mayberry had one traffic stop and, with the notable exception of Moonshining , (which seemed to be rampant) was usually crime-free. This made for an interesting backdrop for ''The Andy Griffith Show'', which depicted the day to day life of the town's sheriff, Andy Taylor. Sheriff Taylor seemed to spend more time dealing with his deputy Barney Fife 's antics than actual law and order.

:Some of the town's landmarks:
  • The Mayberry Courthouse — Where Sheriff Andy Taylor and Deputy Barney Fife conducted law and order in Mayberry. It also served as the county jail. Aside from Andy Taylor's home, this was the main setting for ''The Andy Griffith Show''.

  • Myer's Lake — As seen in the opening credits of ''The Andy Griffith Show'', it was the place Andy and Opie Taylor always went fishing, and where Barney often drove with Thelma Lou for their "romantic getaways".

  • Walker's Drug Store — This was the town drug store and soda shop run by Ellie Walker, Andy's first girlfriend (played by Elinor Donahue ). In the early episodes, characters often referred to "going to Walker's Drug Store for an ice cream soda." After Donahue left the show, all references to this were dropped (to be replaced with "going to the filling station for a bottle of pop").

  • Floyd's Barber Shop — Run by the scatterbrained Floyd Lawson , it was the main center of action in Mayberry. On any given day, it was not unusual to see many of the town's important figures, including the Mayor and the Sheriff, gathered here.

  • Weaver's Department Store - Run by the miserly Ben Weaver.

  • The Grand Theatre — The movie theater where Andy and Barney often took their girlfriends ( Helen Crump and Thelma Lou , respectively) on dates.

  • Emmett's Fix-it Shop — Run by handyman Emmett Clark, this was the business that replaced '''Floyd's''' when Howard McNear left the show.

  • Wally's Filling Station — The town's only known gas station, it was the place of employment for cousins Goober and Gomer Pyle . It also served as the town's service station.

  • Bluebird Diner — This was the restaurant where Barney was often seen calling to talk to his secret love, the enigmatic waitress "Juanita".

  • Mayberry Hotel — Where out-of-towners often stayed, the Mayberry Hotel was also where choir director John Masters was employed.


Many towns in North Carolina have been proposed as "the original Mayberry," but it is most likely that the town was loosely based on Andy Griffith 's hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina . Griffith has also indicated that nearby Pilot Mountain , N.C., also in Surry County, North Carolina , inspired him in creating the town. However, it is more likely that Pilot Mountain was the inspiration for the fictional town of " Mount Pilot ", a nearby larger town in relation to Mayberry, often referred to and occasionally visited by the characters in ''The Andy Griffith Show''.

Due to the success and notoriety of the television show, "Mayberry" has been used as a term for both idyllic small town life and for rural simplicity (both good and ill). For example, in an episode of '' Buffy The Vampire Slayer '', a Vampire says that the high death count in Sunnydale "makes D.C. look...like Mayberry."

The fictional town of Mayberry originated in an episode of '' The Danny Thomas Show '' and was the setting of both '' The Andy Griffith Show '' and '' Mayberry RFD ''.

Mayberry is also the name of real community that was located in Laurens County, Georgia, around the time of the Great Depression and WWII . Mayberry was situated between Rentz and Dexter, Georgia on what is now Mark Wood Road, and had its own railroad stop. The tracks are now gone, and trains no longer pass through the area. The population of the area has increased greatly, but it remains a rural location, at least three miles from the smallest nearby town.


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