The Real Location of Mayfield, a Leave it to Beaver Mystery

Part 2 of a 2 Part Article Series

In the episode, “Long Distance Call,” Don Drysdale tells Gilbert that Mayfield is a “quite a distance to be calling from.”

The Leave it to Beaver Mystery

Okay, if you haven’t figured out where the real location of Mayfield is, you’re an absolutely normal person. If you would like to know where the real location of Mayfield is, then you’re also a very normal Leave it to Beaver fan. It’s a normal question to ask and as I mentioned in the post, “Where is Mayfield?”, that is a question that is answered probably more times than it is asked. So, if you’ve found this post on the real location of Mayfield, go read the previous post first.

The following are more observations from Leave it to Beaver expert Scott Hettrick.

Possible locations outside Ohio

* Oregon or Washington because… Eddie goes to the dock to interview for a summer job on a fishing boat in Alaska and we see a boat in the water, so it must be the coast, and since the fishing boat is going to Alaska (as opposed, for example, to Nova Scotia), this suggests the port is on the West Coast; In episode about Lumpy’s football scholarship to “State,” his friend asks for tickets if they go to Rose Bowl this year – in those years the Rose Bowl game was between winners of Big Ten and Pacific Coast Conferences, which included Oregon State, and Washington State; June mentions Ward’s fishing trips to Minnesota and Seattle, suggesting Seattle is nearby; reference to fishing with salmon eggs, which suggests the Pacific Northwest; also there’s a pennant on the wall with a “W” suggesting Washington; Wally’s License episode shows license plate on training car with an “E” inside an “O,” a design Oregon has used in the past.

* Connecticut because… In The Boat Builders episode, Ward says “We’re 20 miles from the ocean” – no front license plates eliminates 19 states, leaving only five states 20 miles from the ocean and Beaver and Richard talk about spotting a New Jersey license plate; Ward born and raised in Mayfield and used to get poison ivy as a kid (an east coast plant vs poison oak, a west coast plant) and they say “soda” vs “pop” or “coke”; they can take train to their Aunt Martha’s, who’s very proud of her east coast heritage; the rival town of Madison is in Connecticut on the coast; and the bottom of Ward’s trash cans has CAFT, and only two states start with C. Also, Ward and June take an overnight trip to Freeport and leave at 4 pm to get there before dark –Freeport in New York is 2-hours from Connecticut; they go to an NFL game in 1960 (Green Bay vs random opponent); Connecticut was close to NY Giants stadium.

* Baltimore because… In Beaver’s Secret life episode Wally refers to the Colts football team which at the time was the Baltimore Colts; When Beaver was going to be on TV, Gilbert said his aunt in Pennsylvania was watching and TV antennas only get reception for a limited radius; Rt 7 runs northeast of Baltimore In Baltimore County and Harford counties.

* Michigan because… Pennant in boys’ bedroom; Crystal Falls is in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula; In the episode about Lumpy’s football scholarship to “State,” his friend asks for tickets if they go to Rose Bowl this year – in those years the Rose Bowl game was between winners of Big Ten and Pacific Coast Conferences, which included Michigan State.

* The Coast (one of them) because… In The Boat Builders episode, Ward says “We’re 20 miles from the ocean”; Wally got a job selling ice cream on the beach; Season 6 opening has family running out front door to get into car with June carrying a picnic basket, Ward carrying a thermos and Wally carrying beach towel
— NOT EAST COAST because… Aunt Martha says Cleaver home “is such an eastern-looking home so far west.”

* Wisconsin because… In a season 3 episode Fred brags to Ward that Lumpy played in school band “for the Governor in Madison”; The Her Idol episode has a letter from Mrs. Rayburn mentioning a home run by the Milwaukee Braves in the World Series; Crystal Falls is said to be 90 miles away, which could be Coleman, Wi.; Uncle Billy said the Green Bay Packers need a half back; Madison, the State college where Lumpy may have gone played in the Rose Bowl; The W pennant above Beaver’s bed similar to Wisconsin Badgers logo; In the Don Drysdale episode, Beaver had a Warren Spahn glove (Milwaukee Braves 1946-64); The Cleveland references could also be Cleveland, Wisconsin – Mayfield Wisconsin is about exactly 20 miles from Lake Michigan, which may have seemed like the ocean in Tooey’s reference.

* Pennsylvania because… In the episode, Perfect Father, Ward says he use to play Mulhlenberg in basketball – Mulhenberg township (Berks County) and Muhlenberg College (Allentown, Lehigh County) are in Pennsylvania

* Tennessee because… While attending school in Chattanooga Tennessee, Hugh Beaumont worked at the Mayfield Dairy, where he said the name of the town of Mayfield came from.

* North of Texas because… Wally says “they’ve got it all [oil] down in Texas.”

Where is Mayfield? Here is the answer, NOT

* NOT Pennsylvania because… in the episode “Nobody Loves Me” it took Richard hours to find a car with a New Jersey license plate, and Beaver mentioned he saw a Pennsylvania plate which was close.
* NOT CALIFORNIA because… Ward mentions June’s parents live in California; In Box Office Attraction episode, Marlene’s parents are said to live in California; owners of the old house in the “Mistaken Identity” episode moved to California.
* NOT LOS ANGELES because… Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale says it’s a “long way” from there and it was a long distance call from Mayfield.
* NOT NEAR ST. LOUIS because… Ward had to fly there and stay for a few days on business.
* NOT NEAR WASHINGTON D.C. because… Beaver said (lying) that his dad was “flying to Washington to see the president.”
* NOT THE SOUTH because… No one talks with a southern, an Appalachian, or a New England accent (except visiting Aunt Martha).
* NOT DESERT AREAS because… no arid or desert terrain and sometimes you can see mountains; characters sometimes seen wearing jackets and coats
* NOT AGRICULTURAL AREAS because… does not seem to be an important/prominent local industry.
* NOT NEW ENGLAND because… Ward told beaver that New England was “just a few hours away by plane.”
* NOT INDIANA or NEARBY STATES because… The new young blonde girl student who Wally had a crush on when June invited her to picnic at Friends Lake, was from Indianapolis Indiana or “one of those states.”

Now you know the real location of Mayfield

I hope this post or our previous post about the real location of Mayfield has satisfied your interest in the subject. If not, there will be no satisfying the desire to know, but I will be writing much more in one of my upcoming Leave it to Beaver books. So, be on the look out for that. Until then, you can always check out my most recent Leave it to Beaver book which has its own 70 page season 1 encyclopedia. You’ll love it.