Stars Hollow

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stars Hollow is a fictional town in Connecticut on the show Gilmore Girls. It is depicted as a close-knit small town with many quirky characters, located roughly thirty minutes by car from Hartford. It is loosely based on the towns of Essex, Wallingford, and Washington, Connecticut, but filming of the pilot was done in History Main Street Unionville in Unionville, Ontario (Canada).

Contents 1 Establishments 2 Town history 2.1 Founding 2.2 The Revolutionary War 2.3 Third Street 3 Town set 4 Location 5 References

[edit] Establishments

In the center of the town is a town square, complete with a gazebo and a statue of Casimir Pulaski.

Luke's Diner	Owned and run by Luke Danes, this is almost the second home for Lorelai and Rory Gilmore.
Miss Patty's Dance School	Dance school run by Miss Patty and also home to regular town meetings.
Stars Hollow High School	The town's high school. The school's sport teams are called the Minutemen.
Kim's Antiques	An antique shop which is also the home of Lane Kim and her mother. Contains living quarters above the shop.
Weston's Bakery	Owned by Fran Weston, as is the Dragonfly Inn; Lorelai and Sookie buy the inn after Fran's death.
Al's Pancake World	The competitor to Luke's; it specializes in international cuisine and other varied food, but retains the "Pancake World" moniker despite no pancakes being made.
Gypsy's Garage/Hewes Brothers	Auto garage where Gypsy is the owner and chief mechanic.
Stars Hollow Music	Owned by Sophie Bloom (Carole King). Local shop where Lane buys her musical supplies. She also learns to play the drums there.
Black, White and Read Bookshop	The local bookstore frequented by Rory, and run by Andrew. Also converted into a casual movie theater setting during evenings where older films from the 30s-60s are screened.
Church/Synagogue	A shared establishment where both Christian and Jewish services are held.
Stars Hollow Beauty Supply	A beauty shop where Shane, Rory's romantic rival to Jess Mariano worked.
Gabby's Flowers
Faretta's Barber Shop
Doose's Market	The main market in Stars Hollow; owned by Taylor Doose
Jojo's	Another restaurant. The Gilmore Girls comment that Jojo's has terrible food.
Le Chat Club	Sells products for cats and their owners. Kirk buys supplies for his cat. Luke buys a gift for Rachel.
Kirk's Diner	It is only seen or heard of in episode 7.02: That's What You Get, Folks, for Makin' Whoopie.
Stars Hollow Party Supply	A shopping bag from this store was carried by Sookie in season 5 episode 15.
The Hungry Diner	Eaten at by Lorelai and Rory after Luke leaves town on a fishing trip following the accident in which Jess crashes Rory's car into a bench, fracturing Rory's wrist in the process.
Stars Hollow Video	Local video rental shop, put up a "Rory Curtain" after after Rory asks them to move an explicit movie to a higher shelf.
The Independence Inn	An inn often used for various parties and engagements including weddings. Owned by Mia, managed by Lorelai. Lorelai and Rory lived in the work shed on the property right after moving to Stars Hollow. Burned down.
The Dragonfly Inn	Formerly a bed and breakfast owned by the Weston family and purchased by Lorelai and Sookie. Managed by Michel Gerard.
Stars Hollow Baby	Where Lorelai and Rory buy supplies for Lane's baby shower during season 7.

According to Luke there are "twelve stores... devoted entirely to peddling porcelain unicorns."

Luke also signs his divorce papers at a Mailboxes, Etc. where Kirk is working and Lorelai attempts to buy 1950's TV show stamps.

Other establishments include a post office, travel agency, vintage clothing store, law office, newsstand, filling station, video rental store, and a knitting store that Mrs. Kim frequents, a stationary store, and a shoe store.

[edit] Town history

[edit] Founding

Stars Hollow was founded in 1779 with conflicting legends regarding how it got its name. Although some within the town doubt the theory, the traditionally accepted legend involves two star-crossed lovers who seemed destined never to be together, until separate cosmological phenomena involving stars led them to each other at the spot where the town now exists. This is celebrated annually at the Firelight Festival, shown in 1st season episode "Star-Crossed Lovers and Other Strangers" and 4th season episode "Nag Hammadi is Where They Found the Gnostic Gospels."

Another story of Stars Hollow's founding was presented in Season 5, episode 15, "To Live and Let Diorama." A talking display built in the new Stars Hollow Museum explained that a Puritan family first discovered the area while looking for a place to settle. They named it as such because of "the stars, so bright; this forest, so hollow!"

[edit] The Revolutionary War

There was also a "battle" fought in Stars Hollow where 12 men stood and waited for the Redcoats who never came. This battle is re-enacted annually, shown in first season episode "Love and War and Snow" and in 5th season episode "Women of Questionable Morals." This second occurrence marked the beginning of the addition of the town prostitute, who slept with the British general to delay the troops.

On the town square's gazebo is the town's Liberty Bell sign, which reads:

“

The bell at Stars Hollow was cast in 1780 to celebrate the first anniversary of the town. The bell cracked the first time it was rung and weighed 2080 pounds. The strike of the bell is E-flat. On June 6, 1944 when Allied forces landed in France, the sound of the bell was broadcast to all parts of the country.

”

[edit] Third Street

According to the Stars Hollow Historical Society, Third Street is among the town's worst historical landmarks to take your children. In the 18th century, it was known as "Sores and Boils Alley," where sick and suffering people throughout the region came to have sores and boils lanced. A small leper colony is said to have existed there as well. On modern-day third street, one will find the newly-restored Dragonfly Inn.

Throughout its history, Third Street has also held various other names, aside from the aforementioned "Sores and Boils Alley," including "Constabulary Road," "Crusty Bulge," and a Nipmuc Indian name, "Chargogagogmanchogagogcharbunagunggamog." The Nipmuc Indian name is said to mean, "You fish on your side of the lake, I'll fish on my side and no one will fish in the middle."

[edit] Town set

The town square is located on the Warner Brothers studio back lot. It is just around the corner from the exterior set for the hospital from ER.^[1]

Many of the sets for Stars Hollow were also used in The Music Man, The Dukes of Hazzard, and The Waltons.^[2] The Dragonfly Inn was the Waltons' home. The town's high school was the Hazzard County Courthouse. The exterior of Lorelai's house was Uncle Jesse's.

This set was previously used by Warner Bros. for the Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Pushing Daisies, and was also the setting for the town square in 2007's Norbit.

Was recently used for the drama Ghost Whisperer after a fire at the Universal Studios in June 2008.

It is currently used for filming the new ABC show Eastwick (TV series).

Unionville, Ontario's Main Street was used as a stand-in for Stars Hollow in the show's pilot which became the first episode.

[edit] Location

Stars Hollow was inspired by and is loosely based on the real village of Washington Depot, Connecticut (located in the middle of the western half of the state, about 45 minutes from both Hartford and New Haven) which writer Amy Sherman-Palladino once traveled through. Sherman-Palladino later said, "Now, I've never been there in winter, when you're snowed in and you can't go anywhere, and you and your husband want to kill each other because you can't go to a movie. But at the time I was there, it was beautiful, it was magical, and it was feeling of warmth and small-town camaraderie. . . . There was a longing for that in my own life, and I thought -- that's something that I would really love to put out there."^[3]

There are many clues given during the course of the show as to its location in Connecticut, but unfortunately no one town fits all clues. Hartford is supposed to be within 30 minutes and New Haven is allegedly 22.8 miles away. Towns mentioned as being close include Woodbury and Beacon Falls (generally in the central south west of the state), Litchfield, Groton and New London (in the south east). This information can't be reconciled any better.

In the liner notes for the show's soundtrack, Music from Gilmore Girls, a postcard sent by Lane from South Korea is pictured, and is addressed to Rory's home address of 37 Maple Street in Stars Hollow. The town's ZIP code is shown as 06492, the same as the real city of Wallingford. That city does not have a Maple Street, however they do have a Maple Avenue.

Washington Depot, the village Amy Sherman-Palladino mentioned as inspiring Stars Hollow, also uses a town meeting-style government and was founded in 1779. The homes and buildings in the town all match the style of that in Stars Hollow and the archetype New England town. In real life Woodbury is very close to Washington Depot. It should be noted that plenty of other Connecticut towns have village greens, gazebos or small quaint shops and give a feel much like Stars Hollow to a visitor.

Rory began to attend Chilton at the start of the series. Chilton is a prep school which seems to be located in Hartford (in season 2, episode 5 Lane mentions a record store called Record Breaker, Inc. on 2453 Berlin Turnpike, "10 minutes from your school", which narrows it down to Newington CT). It is based on Wallingford's Choate Rosemary Hall. Stars Hollow also is on a Connecticut Transit route, as Rory commutes to and from the school using a bus from Stars Hollow's town square.

Greg Morago of The Hartford Courant writes, "Unlike the Hartford depicted on Judging Amy, the Stars Hollow of The Gilmore Girls rings true. The town's antiques shops, small businesses, schools, government and infrastructure look the part. But where Sherman-Palladino has truly excelled, despite her Clueless origins, is in her drawing of colorful Connecticut characters. The populace of Stars Hollow, from the town busybody to the town troubadour, is familiar to any Nutmegger who ever attended a town meeting."^[4]

[edit] References

v • d • e Gilmore Girls Creators Amy Sherman-Palladino • Daniel Palladino See also Lorelai Gilmore • Characters • Stars Hollow • List of episodes