Gilmore Girls is a great example of a setting becoming a character. The state of Connecticut has endless adorable towns and gorgeous seasonal imagery, and one made-up town captures it all beautifully. For the Gilmore girls, home truly is where the heart is.
It’s hard to imagine Lorelai and Rory sipping coffee somewhere besides Stars Hollow. It’s strange to picture their New England leaves or snow falling on the ground of another city. There are countless reasons that we love this fictional town, but there are details not everyone has discovered. Here are ten of the best facts tucked away in Stars Hollow’s history.
10 Relationship to Other Cities
It is repeatedly established that Stars Hollow is a bit of a drive from both Hartford and New Haven. The Gilmore girls start making frequent trips to Hartford in the first season–both for Rory to attend Chilton and for the mother and daughter to have mandatory dinners with Lorelai’s parents. Rory’s treks to New Haven begin when she starts college at Yale University. She zips back over to Stars Hollow pretty frequently, and her family occasionally drives to New Haven for special events at Yale. It’s important that the characters mention towns neighboring Stars Hollow, too. Lorelai loses it when Luke lives in Litchfield. When Lane and Zach can’t find a bar for their respective bachelorette and bachelor parties, there is talk of driving over to Beacon Falls to find a bar. Taylor raises a stink in the reboot because Woodbury wins out as a movie location over Stars Hollow. It’s these little details that make the Gilmore Girls landscape come to life.
9 Washington (Depot)
It is no secret that Stars Hollow is a fictional town. Most hardcore fans know that the show’s creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino, was inspired by her trip to the towns of Washington and Washington Depot, Connecticut. The former town boasts of its Grace Mayflower Inn, where rooms start at more than $500 per night. The latter town is home to a delightful restaurant called The Pantry, a grocery store called Washington Food Market (with an exterior slightly reminiscent of Doose’s), and the well-kept Hickory Stick Bookshop. Fans flock to this area annually for a Gilmore Girls festival, but locals know that it’s not an exact replica of Stars Hollow. In reality, numerous towns better resemble the Stars Hollow town square. Guilford shares a similar town green, Chester offers the cozy communal atmosphere, and local diners are spotted all throughout the state.
8 Gazebo
In the seventh season, Taylor rips out the centrally located gazebo to build a hay bale maze. This gazebo is vital to the life of the town. Festivals, weddings, parties, and deep talks all happen here. It is visual startling to see it ripped from the earth.
When the matter is discussed at home, Rory says, “that gazebo has been there since Paul Revere was a baby boy.” It’s definitely part of the New England charm. The gazebo is just a fact of Stars Hollow, but its temporary removal is a “blink and miss it” event.
7 Town Halls and Festivals
Two events that simply happen on Gilmore Girls are town hall meetings and town-wide festivals. On the show, the meetings take place at Ms. Patty’s dance school in the barn. Festivals often happen in the town square and might showcase some random talent of Kirk, jack of all trades. The center of town is charming in broad daylight or when it’s all lit up at night. While they may seem like creations of Stars Hollow, these meetings and celebrations are a normal part of life in small-town Connecticut. The town halls with Taylor the aggressive selectman are intense and thorough, but the inner workings of town structures are not entirely explained. Unlike small neighborhoods of large cities, the small town decides most everything autonomously. It has its own churches, schools, ordinances, and observances.
6 Town Troubadour
He’s not obscure, but he’s not always recognized enough for his talent, either. When remembering Gilmore Girls, the Town Troubadour is an important character and fixture of Stars Hollow. He has some key moments, like when other musicians challenge his turf, but he often waltzes by or croons on his corner casually. The Troubadour was played by accomplished musician Grant-Lee Phillips (of Grant Lee Buffalo) throughout the show’s seven seasons. He sang his own band’s songs, such as “Honey Don’t Think” and “Everybody Needs a Little Sanctuary.” The hits kept rolling with The Beach Boys’ “Be True to Your School,” “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” by Wham!, and many others.
5 Restaurants We See
We get plenty of glimpses of Luke’s Diner, and by proximity, Taylor’s controversial Soda Shoppe. Unless Lorelai and Luke aren’t talking, Lorelai decorates the counter every day with her bubbly presence and her coffee refills. She has many meaningful conversations with Rory here, and Luke employs friends of Rory’s, like Lane and Zach. We are eventually introduced to Weston’s, the place Lorelai can go when Luke’s is not an option. It stays popular on the show because of its renowned assortment of pies. Places like Luke’s and Weston’s fit right into the scenery of the town. It’s clear that Luke’s Diner is a pretty easy walk from Lorelai and Rory’s house. Weston’s is not pictured as often, but it’s also further from home for the Gilmore girls. In season 7, they walk there with Logan to pick up pie, and they complain about how far the walk is. It seems that this is one of the furthest points from their house, but it’s easy to miss that detail!
4 Restaurants We Don’t See
While Luke’s, Taylor’s, and Weston’s establishments are seen, Al’s Pancake World and the Chinese restaurant and the pizza place are never shown. Al’s is famous for causing stomach aches, but that does not stop Lorelai and Rory from dining there occasionally.
They’re also seen walking about town with a slice of pizza or ordering it in. For some reason, the details of places like these remain a mystery. Meals are best enjoyed out at Luke’s or in with Richard and Emily’s fine china, anyway.
3 Kim’s Antiques
The Kim family runs a tight ship with their in-home antiques business. Mrs. Kim is seen frequently negotiating with interested buyers. Antique furniture is placed all over the shop, but of course, the family cannot use it. We see Lane in her bedroom, hiding her music collection in the floorboards. She is heard calling to Rory from the kitchen. But except for religious services and Zach and Lane’s wedding, there is no proper living room or dining area. Mrs. Kim keeps a pretty strict diet and lifestyle anyway, so this Stars Hollow family doesn’t make leisure a high priority.
2 The Dragonfly Inn’s Past Life
By the end of the fourth season, Lorelai is living out her dream and preparing to open The Dragonfly Inn. The inn provides some picturesque scenery for the remainder of the show’s run. What some fans don’t know is that the house’s exterior has quite a past. It was the place John-Boy, Jim-Bob, Jason, Mary-Ellen, Elizabeth, Ben, and Erin called home on The Waltons. The sturdy homestead is a fixture of every single Walton story. It houses endless guests, hosts daily meals, and even suffers the damage of a horrific fire. There is another exterior set used for the Dragonfly, but the old Walton home is used as a before shot, with Sookie and Lorelai contemplating all its potential.
1 Midwest Street Backlot
Ever think the Gilmore Girls universe looks familiar? There’s a reason Stars Hollow feels so homey. With the exception of the pilot episode filmed in Toronto, the town was created on WB’s Midwest Street in Los Angeles, California. The fictional township has shared the stage with Pretty Little Liars, Hart of Dixie, The Dukes of Hazzard, Bonnie and Clyde, Rebel without a Cause, and The Music Man.
As it is the largest backlot Warner Bros has, they have rented it out to large parties and have a website advertising its potential for events. Imagine a Gilmore-themed birthday party, wedding, or good old-fashioned town festival!
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