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Hill Valley

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Hill Valley - A Nice Place to Live
Hill Valley - A Nice Place to Live

Hill Valley, California, was the hometown of the McFly family, the Brown family, the Tannen family, as well as several thousands more.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Early settlement

The town of Hill Valley was first settled in 1850 and was incorporated in 1865. By the 1880s, it was connected by railroad to San Francisco. Construction of a new county courthouse was well underway in 1885, the year a new clock was dedicated for the building. The Shonash Ravine Bridge was completed in the Summer of 1886, around the same time the ravine was renamed the Eastwood Ravine Bridge (or Clayton Ravine Bridge, depending upon which timeline one focuses upon).

[edit] Rise and fall of town square

The area around the courthouse was developed in the following seventy years and by the 1950s had become the downtown of Hill Valley. A grass-covered town square was built in front of the courthouse, while stores, theatres and cafés opened on the surrounding streets. On Saturday, November 12 1955, at 10:04 p.m. PST, lightning struck the courthouse's clock tower, freezing the clock at 10:04. The clock was never repaired and as it became a landmark of Hill Valley over the years, it was preserved in its non-functional state by the Hill Valley Preservation Society.

By a few decades later, many of the town square businesses had moved or closed down. The new businesses which replaced them included a second-hand shop and an adult book store. The courthouse fell into a state of disrepair, while at night at least one homeless person slept on the town square park benches. To accommodate the growing need for parking space, the grassy park outside of the courthouse was converted into a parking lot. What happened to everybody's home town is obviously the same thing. They built the mall out in the boonies, and killed all the business downtown, and everything changed.

By the 21st century, the downtown area had experienced a revival as the courthouse was converted into the Courthouse Mall. Businesses began to move back into and around the town square and the parking lot was converted into a pond. The clock on top of the courthouse was still preserved at 10:04 due to the continuous efforts of the Hill Valley Preservation Society.

Signs that say "Welcome to Hill Valley" are seen in 1955 and 2015. Both signs have symbols representing the Rotary, Kiwanis and Lions clubs. In addition, the 1955 sign has the logos of the Hill Valley Chamber of Commerce, YMCA, Jaycees, Camp Fire Girls, American Legion Auxilary, the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, Optimist International, and Future Farmers of America while the 2015 sign has those of Crime Watch, the 4-H Club, and three other logos.

[edit] 1985A

Due to the influence of the powerful and corrupt Biff Tannen, gambling was legalized in 1979. Tannen's toxic waste reclamation plants were built downtown, polluting the air and leading to pollution alerts to be issued. Tannen also bought off the police. Consequently, crime increased and biker gangs settled in the city. Hill Valley's public school burned down and the courthouse was converted into Biff Tannen's Pleasure Paradise Casino & Hotel.

[edit] Location

Hill Valley was located in Northern California, 12 miles east of Grass Valley, and with railway links to San Francisco. U.S. Route 395 passed through Hill Valley with a directional route shield posted in Courthouse Square. The town was nestled in rolling foothills, with an apparently temperate, albeit semi-arid climate, and, although there was a desert within walking distance of the town, the nearby lake froze over in the winter.

The signs in Hill Valley also indicate that U.S. Route 8 can be reached from downtown, although that route is in Wisconsin. On the other hand, U.S. Route 395 and U.S. Route 6 intersect in Inyo County, California, near the town of Bishop, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the Death Valley desert.

[edit] Recurring places

Many family businesses are passed down from generation to generation in Hill Valley. As a result, the city changes but remains similar from one generation to the next, as businesses are updated but rarely change.

The following is a list of such places.

[edit] 1885

The Courthouse and Clock Tower, still under construction on September 3rd, 1885.
  1. Hill Valley Courthouse & Clock Tower (under construction)
  2. Palace Saloon
  3. Nothing
  4. Framework of a building under construction
  5. Honest Joe Statler's Fine Horses
  6. Emmett Brown's blacksmith shop
  7. Unknown
  8. A. Jones Manure Handling
  9. Nothing
  10. Unknown
  11. Nothing
  12. Nothing

[edit] 1955

The Clock Tower gets hit by lightning at 10:04 p.m. on November 12th, 1955.
  1. Hill Valley Courthouse
  2. Lou's Cafe
  3. Town Theater
  4. Essex Theater (as a mainstream movie house)
  5. Statler Studebaker
  6. Texaco full-service station
  7. Ask Mr. Foster Travel Service
  8. D. Jones Manure Handling
  9. Holt's Diner
  10. Twin Pines Ranch
  11. Lyon Estates (under development)
  12. Nothing

[edit] 1985

The aging courthouse and non-functional Clock Tower on October 25th, 1985.
  1. Hill Valley Courthouse - Department of Social Services
  2. Lou's Aerobic Center
  3. Assembly of Christ
  4. Essex Theater (as an adult movie house)
  5. Statler Toyota
  6. Texaco self-service gas station
  7. Ask Mr. Foster Travel Service
  8. Unknown
  9. Elmo's Rib
  10. Twin Pines Mall (becomes Lone Pine Mall after Marty knocks down a tree in 1955)
  11. Lyon Estates
  12. Hilldale (under development)

[edit] Alternate 1985

The courthouse was converted into a casino by Biff Tannen in the alternate October 26th, 1985.
  1. Biff Tannen's Pleasure Paradise Casino & Hotel
  2. Dee Dee Delight Bar
  3. Biffco Toxic Waste Reclamation Plant
  4. Unknown
  5. Unknown
  6. Unknown
  7. Unknown
  8. Unknown
  9. Unknown
  10. Unknown
  11. Lyon Estates
  12. Unknown

[edit] 2015

The historic Courthouse Mall on October 21st, 2015.
  1. Hill Valley Courthouse Mall
  2. Cafe 80's
  3. Hill Valley Theater (closed)
  4. Holomax Theater
  5. Statler Pontiac
  6. 7-Eleven (first floor) and Texaco automated Havoline station (second floor)
  7. Uniglobe Travel
  8. Unknown
  9. Fusion Bar
  10. Unknown
  11. Unknown
  12. Hilldale

[edit] Unique places

Despite Hill Valley's notable consistency, many businesses do appear and disappear over the years, as their services begin being needed or become obsolete. The following is a list of businesses that have no known equivalent in other time periods.

[edit] 1885

[edit] 1955

[edit] 1985

[edit] 1985A

[edit] 2015

[edit] Behind the scenes

In addition to the main plot, the films contain many sight gags, verbal innuendos and detailed set design elements, from which a detailed and consistent history and geography of the area can be derived. The name Hill Valley is itself a joke, being an oxymoron, or contradiction in terms.

[edit] Shooting locations

The set of the Hill Valley courthouse at the Universal Studios backlot.

For Back to the Future, the producers considered filming the town square scenes in the real city of Petaluma, California, but soon realized it would be prohibitively expensive and impractical to alter a real place to suit the different eras.[1] Instead they filmed it on the Universal Studios backlot, where they had more control.[2] The main location, known as Courthouse Square, already existed and had been previously used for many films and television shows. [3] The Hill Valley courthouse can also be found in the movies Bruce Almighty, Gremlins, Sneakers, The Offspring's music video "Why Don't You Get a Job?" and even in an episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. The clock tower itself, however, was a removable addition to the existing Courthouse building, one of many ways in which the structure has been redressed over the years to suit the needs of a production. Prior to Back to the Future, the backlot location was called Mockingbird Square, a reference to the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird.[4]

Google Earth map showing filming locations for Hill Valley spread across a large area of Southern California.

Many of the cars that appear in the 2015 scenes are either modified for the film or concept cars. Examples include Ford Probe, Saab EV-1, Citroën DS 21, Pontiac Banshee Concept and Pontiac Fiero. Cars reused from other science fiction films include the "Star Car" from The Last Starfighter (1984) and a "Spinner" from Blade Runner (1982). Griff's car is a modified BMW convertible.[5]

For Back to the Future Part III, Hill Valley 1885 was filmed in Sonora, California. The producers were able to use the land rent free as long as they left the buildings there. They agreed to leave everything except the Clock Tower. Interestingly, on August 10, 1996, a lightning bolt struck the town and it burned down. An arson fire on the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot on November 6, 1990 had previously destroyed much of Courthouse Square, the setting in which all the other time periods were filmed. However, the Courthouse itself survived the devastation.[6] Another backlot fire on September 6, 1997 again damaged Courthouse Square. In both cases, the backlot facades were then rebuilt. The Sonora location was not rebuilt. In addition, a February 14, 1999 fire at Whittier High School, where some (mostly exterior) scenes were filmed[7], destroyed the old men's gym there.

Other real-life shooting locations of Hill Valley landmarks include the following: [7]

See also Category:Filming locations

[edit] Appearances

Futurepedia has a collection of images and media related to Hill Valley.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ↑ Template:Cite video
  2. ↑ Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, Q&A, Back to the Future DVD, recorded at the University of Southern California
  3. ↑ Gallery. Universal Studios Hollywood Studio Tour. Universal Studios Inc.. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
  4. ↑ Courthouse Square. thestudiotour.com. www.theatrecrafts.com/. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
  5. ↑ Template:Cite video
  6. ↑ Universal Studios Hollywood History File: November 6 1990. thestudiotour.com. www.theatrecrafts.com/. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 [[Bruce Gordon|Gordon, Bruce]] (1995). Back to the Future - For Real!. www.BTTF.com, reprinted from Hill Valley Telegraph #16. To Be Continued.... Retrieved on 2006-12-03.


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