(...click to return to part 1 of the tour)

This corner building with its columned portico was the most commonly seen exterior set in The Andy Griffith Show. The interior (studio) set was constructed to roughly to conform to the exterior set, and the illusion was enhanced by use of door and window backdrops matching the 40 Acres exteriors surrounding the courthouse. In the first season of the series, the interior set was missing one of two large windows on each side of the exterior set's front door, but this inconsistency was quickly remedied. The exterior set also had a second, seldom-used door down the right side of the building.

virtual view of the courthouse, dressed for The Andy Griffith Show (ray-traced rendering from 3D model)

the Mayberry Courthouse as seen in the The Andy Griffith Show

color view of Mayberry courthouse, from Gomer Pyle, USMC

another view of the Mayberry courthouse from The Andy Griffith Show

another virtual view of courthouse & shops, dressed as "Mayberry" for The Andy Griffith Show (ray-traced rendering from 3D model)

courthouse side door and dirt road to rear (from The Andy Griffith Show). Culver City's Higuera Street is immediately behind the vegetation seen in the background.

in this rare behind-the-scenes photo from The Andy Griffith Show shot on July 18, 1961, a klieg light positioned behind the window of the courthouse facade illuminates Andy Griffith as he strolls down the sidewalk during a scene (a RetroWeb Archives image)

virtual view of courthouse at night (ray-traced rendering from 3D model)

To the right of the courthouse set was a short street featuring an assortment of small facades typically seen only as background sets in various productions, including The Andy Griffith Show. Immediately beyond these sets to the north was Culver City's Higuera Street, which was ordinarily blocked from the camera's view by a wooden fence.

view of facades on side street to right of courthouse (from The Andy Griffith Show)

view down the back street (from The Andy Griffith Show). The courthouse is immediately to our left, and Culver City's Higuera St. is just beyond the fence and vegetation.

Ronnie Howard walks along the back street sidewalk (from The Andy Griffith Show)

view north down the back street, looking from in front of the church, as seen in the 1948 film The Miracle of the Bells. in this unusual shot, the 40 Acres sets are integrated with the streets and buildings of Culver City beyond, and traffic is seen moving by on Higuera Street in the background.

The 40 Acres back street sets, and the rear of the courthouse set, as seen in the 1950's. To the left in the distance can be seen the west side of the "Aunt Pittypat" house, and protruding into the frame at the far right is the bow of a ship deck set which was located immediately behind the courthouse set. (courtesy Frank J. Thomas Archives)

virtual view of the "back street," from a vantage point behind the courthouse set (ray-traced rendering from 3D model)

Immediately left (west) of the courthouse facade were three storefronts, the most commonly-featured one in The Andy Griffith Show being Floyd's Barber Shop, adjacent to the court house. The other two shops were most commonly depicted in the Griffith show as a TV repair shop and a grocery store, but the nature of these storefronts (as well as their window lettering) changed several times over the course of the series. In one of the more unusual TV "crossovers," these storefronts were seen in their Mayberry incarnations in a scene from the Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever," when Captain Kirk and Edith Keeler strolled down a sidewalk at night. One oddity about this row of shops is that the center shop (often dressed as "TV Repair") had no entrance door.

view of shops on north side of main street (from The Andy Griffith Show)

another view of the same shops as seen in later years of The Andy Griffith Show

closeup of "Floyd's Barber Shop" (ray-traced rendering from 3D model)

In the Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever," Captain Kirk and Edith Keeler stroll by Mayberry's "Floyd's Barber Shop"

Roughly triangular in shape, and across the street from the court house, this building featured several different facades, and could be filmed from a variety of angles and in ways that suggested it was several different buildings. This building stood roughly where the GWTW Atlanta courthouse set stood, and it appeared on film as early as 1949 in "The Set-Up," where it was dressed as the "Hotel Cozy." The building normally served as a backdrop in The Andy Griffith Show, but in the first season, a door at its west-facing point served as the entrance to "Walker's Drugstore." (The drugstore set itself was a studio set).

virtual view of west side of central building (ray-traced rendering from 3D model)

view of midwestern town central building and church (from Batman)

low-angle view of central building, labelled as "Rusk Hotel" in Star Trek episode "Miri"

side of central building (from Land of the Giants)

The central building and surrounding streets in earlier years (view east, from The Untouchables)

This door of the central building had multiple uses in The Andy Griffith Show, including serving as the entrance to "Walker's Drug Store" early in the series.

40 Acres' large wooden church set made many early appearances in film, including in "The Miracle of the Bells" (1948), for which it is believed to have been constructed, and in which the church's complete interior set is also featured. The church exterior also appeared in the 1950 film "Where Danger Lives." In addition to serving as "Mayberry's" church in "The Andy Griffith Show," the church exterior also served as a filming location and backdrop in "The Untouchables" and several other television series.

40 Acres church - front view. The porch of the western-style hotel facade which faces the church, is seen to the right (from The Andy Griffith Show)

A full view of the church (dual-frame from The Untouchables)

The 40 Acres church and parsonage sets on November 13, 1961, with the church dressed as "St. Brendan's Church" for an episode of "The Untouchables" ("The Canada Run," which aired on January 4, 1962). In this episode, the church, and particular the lighted cross atop the steeple, played a prominent role. (a RetroWeb Archives image)

virtual view of church (ray-traced rendering from 3D model)

closeup of church as seen in Land of the Giants

virtual view of church north side (ray-traced rendering from 3D model)

Actor Fred MacMurray stands in front of the 40 Acres church in the 1948 film The Miracle of the Bells.

The church interior as seen in The Miracle of the Bells.

The church parsonage facade, immediately south of the church, as seen in The Miracle of the Bells

The church parsonage facade and Baldwin Hills beyond, as seen in My Three Sons

Just west of the row of shops on the north side of the street was located a four-story brick structure whost first story (namely its inset porch and entrance) was frequently portrayed in The Andy Griffith Show as a hotel. The actual height of the structure was seen in the Griffith show only in one or two rare distant glimpses (see Residential Street Intersection views on page 1), and instead, the set was always filmed in such a manner that suggested it was no taller than the surrounding buildings. Some of the images below reveal the true nature of this structure...a set which was likely constructed for the 1947 film "The Long Night," in which it was prominently featured as an apartment house.

virtual view of the 4-story building (ray-traced rendering from 3D model)

the "hotel" as seen in The Andy Griffith Show.

a closeup of the same building from The Adventures of Superman circa 1951

The 4-story building and its neighboring facade, as seen in November, 1961, dressed as the "Mayberry Hotel" and the "Grand" theater respectively for The Andy Griffith Show. (a RetroWeb Archives image)

Another view of the four-story building as seen in the Star Trek episode "Miri." One can see how out-of-place this building seems alongside the adjacent buildings to the east. (to the left is the theater building - see below)

virtual view of "hotel" porch and theater (ray-traced rendering from 3D model)

looking in same direction but at a lower angle, from The Andy Griffith Show. Note the alley between the 4-story building and the theater, which was featured in The Adventures of Superman as Superman's "take-off" alley in Metropolis.

similar angle as seen in previous photo (from the Star Trek episode "Miri") (with thanks to Tom Redlaw)

In this image from the Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever," Captain Kirk steals period clothing left to dry on a fire escape attached to the four-story building.

virtual view of fire escape on west side of 4-story building (ray-traced rendering from 3D model)

Throughout most of the run of The Andy Griffith Show, the two-story building/facade at the northwest end of the midwestern town area was depicted as a theater, and it featured a large overhanging marquee. Early in the series, the marquee read "Mayberry Theater," but soon changed to "Grand." At the outset of the sixth season of the series, the theater marquee bore the name "Palmerton," but soon reverted to "Grand." Eventually, the marquee was removed and the facades's recessed entrance was eliminated, converting it to another storefront, and ultimately to the home of the Mayberry City Council. The location was also featured in the Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever," where it served as the "21st Street Mission." In another Star Trek / Mayberry crossover...this time in reverse... the exterior can be seen in The Andy Griffith Show named as the 21st Street Mission. Prior to The Andy Griffith Show, this facade had a different appearance altogether, and included a columned overhang.

The "Grand" theater, from The Andy Griffith Show

Closeup of theater from The Andy Griffith Show

This image from The Andy Griffith Show reveals the theater exterior set with renovations in progress... the marquee already having been removed.

Here, the former "Grand" theater set appears as the "21st Street Mission" in the Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever."

In a TV "crossover" of sorts, the converted theater exterior with the "21st Street Mission" lettering appeared in the background in an episode of The Andy Griffith Show shot in the same time frame as the Star Trek episode for which the set was dressed.

the former "Grand" theater facade as it appeared in 1968 after further modifications, and now home to the Mayberry City Council office in Mayberry R.F.D.

virtual image of the "Grand" at night (ray-traced rendering from 3D model)

Next, we will turn to the south side of the midwestern town area, and afterward, proceed west through the 4-way intersection and down Main St....

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