Stars Hollow is a fictional small town in Connecticut featured on the television 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 historical Main Street Unionville in Unionville, Ontario.
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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, his living space is upstairs in his father's former office, almost a second home for Lorelai and Rory Gilmore. |
| Miss Patty's Dance School | Dance school run by Miss Patty and venue of town meetings hosted by Taylor Doose. |
| Stars Hollow High School | The town's high school, whose sports teams are 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, which Lorelai and Sookie buy after Fran's death. |
| Al's Pancake World | Competitor to Luke's, specializing in international cuisine, but retaining the "Pancake World" moniker despite no pancakes being on the menu |
| Gypsy's Garage / Hewes Brothers | Auto garage where Gypsy is the owner and chief mechanic. |
| Sophie's Music | Owned by Sophie Bloom (Carole King). Local shop where Lane buys her musical supplies and learns to play the drums |
| Stars Hollow Books | run by Andrew, where Rory once worked over spring break taking inventory |
| Black, White, and Read Bookshop | Another local bookstore, often converted into a casual small movie theater during evenings, where vintage films are screened |
| Churchogue | A shared house of worship where both Christian and Jewish services are held |
| Stars Hollow Beauty Supply | where Shane, Rory's one-time romantic rival worked. Kirk also works there in Season 4. |
| Gabby's Flowers | |
| Teriyaki Joe's | where Rory goes to lunch with her grandmother, Emily Gilmore, while giving her a tour of Stars Hollow |
| Faretta's Barber Shop | |
| Doose's Market | The grocery owned by anal, controlling Taylor Doose, where Dean, Rory's first love, worked as a bag boy |
| Jojo's | Another restaurant. The Gilmore Girls comment that Jojo's has terrible food. |
| Antonioli's Restaurant | The pizzeria that Rory hired to make the "world's biggest pizza" for Lorelai's birthday. Kirk works here and had a cheese accident in which 1/3 of his body was burned. |
| Le Chat Club | Sells cat-themed gifts and products for pets, where Kirk buys supplies for his cat and Luke buys a gift for Rachel, which Loralie makes him return. |
| Kirk's Diner | 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 | patronized by Lorelai and Rory after Luke leaves town on a fishing trip following the accident in which Jess crashes Rory's car, fracturing Rory's wrist. |
| Stars Hollow Video | Local video rental shop, put up a "Rory Curtain" after Rory asks them to move an explicit movie to a higher shelf. |
| The Independence Inn | venue for various parties and events, including weddings. Owned by Mia, managed by Lorelai. Lorelai and Rory lived in the potting shed on the property upon moving to Stars Hollow. This inn burns down, leading to The Dragonfly Inn to become a more prominent location. |
| The Dragonfly Inn | Formerly a bed-and-breakfast owned by the Weston family and purchased by Lorelai and Sookie, where Lorelai becomes manager and Sookie is chef. Michel, former receptionist of the Independence Inn in Stars Hollow and good friend of Sookie and Lorelai, also becomes the new receptionist of the Dragonfly. |
| Stars Hollow Baby | Where Lorelai and Rory buy supplies for Lane's baby shower during season 7. |
| Tricky's Dry Cleaner | Cleans the new uniforms of the Stars Hollow High basketball team in season 2, episode 10. Their motto: "If it's sticky, try Tricky's" |
| Bootsy's Newsstand | Local newsstand run by Bootsy, started by his father |
| Stars Hollow Library | Home of the Buy a Book Fundraiser where Rory purchased many items and worked for a couple of weeks during season 6. |
According to Luke there are "twelve stores [in Stars Hollow]... 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 vintage TV sitcom stamps.
Other establishments include: Nancy's Cottage of Calico, a post office, bank, travel agency, vintage clothing store, law firm, newsstand, filling station, a knitting store that Mrs. Kim frequents, a stationery store, a realtor, a shoe store, and, for a short time, a museum.
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!"
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. | ” |
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."
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 set was subsequently used by Warner Bros. for Supernatural, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Pushing Daisies, and was also the setting for the town square in 2007's Norbit.
It was also used for the drama Ghost Whisperer after a fire at the Universal Studios in June 2008.
It was also used for filming the 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.
Currently the Gilmore Girls set is used for the ABC Family show, Pretty Little Liars. Luke's Diner is now used as Rosewood Cafe.
Stars Hollow was inspired by and is loosely based on the actual 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 them all. Hartford is supposed to be within 30 minutes, New Haven is allegedly 22.8 miles (36.7 km) away and Woodbridge, Connecticut is 20 miles (32 km) away. Stars Hollow is mentioned not being in Litchfield County, negating all towns within. Towns mentioned as being close include Woodbury, Litchfield, Beacon Falls (generally in the central southwest of the state), Groton, and New London (in the southeast). However, towns in eastern Connecticut are unlikely as they are farther from Woodbridge and Hartford. The most likely candidate would be Meriden as it is 22.8 miles (36.7 km) from New Haven, around 20 miles (32 km) away from Woodbridge, and only 30 minutes away from Hartford. This information cannot 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. 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 attending Chilton at the start of the series. Chilton is a prep school that seems to be located in Hartford (in season 2, episode 5 Lane mentions a record store called Record Breaker, Inc. on 2453 Berlin Turnpike, "ten 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]
During Season 1 Episode 2, when Rory is on her way to her first day at school, they drive past the Gelston House, (located in East Haddam, CT) a restaurant next to the Goodspeed Opera House and East Haddam Bridge.
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