Walton’s Mountain Museum recreates beloved television show
October 2025
The Waltons interior living room is replicated inside the Walton’s Mountain Museum in Schuyler, Va. (photo by Gregg MacDonald)
by Gregg MacDonald, Staff Writer
In the Piedmont region foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains lies the community of Schuyler (pronounced Sky-ler). Originally called Walker’s Mill, it was renamed in 1882 after the area’s first local postmaster and mill operator, Schuyler George Walker.
The community’s most famous native son, however, wasn’t born there until 1923.
Earl Hamner Jr., the oldest of eight children, was the author of the 1970 autobiographical novel, “The Homecoming,” that became the inspiration for the 1970s television show “The Waltons.” Hamner helped create the iconic television show, and became a prolific screenwriter, television producer and writer for many other television shows.
“My daddy went to school with Mr. Hamner and I knew him and his family,” says Mary Clark, who works in Schuyler’s Walton’s Mountain Museum, which opened 33 years ago on Oct. 16, 1992.
Clark says that the building that now houses the Walton’s Mountain Museum was once the school where Hamner graduated in 1940. “He lived right down the street and his father operated a sawmill behind the house,” Clark says of Hamner. “Even after he became famous for being a writer and for ‘The Waltons’ and moved out to California, he remained genuine and always came back to Schuyler for visits.”
The Waltons,’ a popular 1970s TV series, focuses on the life of a Depression-era family in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. A. museum dedicated to the show is in its creator’s hometown of Schuyler, Va.
KEEPING IT REAL
The Walton’s Mountain Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. May through October; weekends only in March, April and November; and closed December through February. Admission is $12 for adults and free for children under 12. Discounts are available for groups of 20 or more.
Inside are replicas of several rooms from the television show, including the Walton’s kitchen and living room, John-Boy’s bedroom, and merchant Ike Godsey’s general store. Many actual props from the television show are on display, as are hundreds of photographs (like the cast photo shown above) and dozens of “The Waltons” collectibles. The actual horse-drawn cart used in the beloved episode “The Pony Cart” is also on exhibit. “My favorite room is probably the kitchen,” Clark says. “The wood-burning stove in there is beautiful and exactly like the one in the show.”
A replica of the television version of the Walton’s home is located directly across the street from the museum, and Earl Hamner Jr.’s actual family home is also nearby.
Walton’s Mountain Museum; 6484 Rockfish River Rd, Schuyler, Va.; 434-831-2000; walton-mountain.org