Mayberry


Mayberry is a fictional community that was the setting for two popular American television sitcoms, The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D. ; Mayberry was also the setting for a 1986 reunion television film titled Return to Mayberry. The town is also frequently mentioned in the spin-off program Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., and is seen when Pyle returns to visit his home town. Mayberry is said to be based on Andy Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina. Mount Airy is also known as Mayberry and called by both names by its residents.

The name "Mayberry"

According to show episodes, the community of Mayberry was named for fictional founder John Mayberry. In the 1964 episode “The Pageant,” Mayberry celebrates its centennial, implying its founding was in 1864. Purportedly, Andy Griffith himself chose the name of the fictional community. Griffith, however, told Larry King in 2003 that Artie Stander is the person who thought of the name Mayberry; Stander was one of the show's creators and writers.
"Mayberry" is mentioned many times in television shows such as Cheers, House, Criminal Minds, Supernatural, How I Met Your Mother, FROM, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Scrubs. According to the episode "The Battle of Mayberry," the town was almost named Taylortown in honor of Colonel Carleton Taylor, who was one of the first settlers in the town.

Specific features

Mayberry had one traffic light and little in the way of indigenous crime with the exception perhaps of moonshining and bootlegging. Speeding was also mentioned in the area, like that on Highway 6 in the fourth season episode "Barney's Sidecar." Out-of-town bank robbers, scam artists, escaped convicts, and vagrants occasionally found their way to Mayberry. The county and the town share the same name and jurisdiction. In episode 44 "Sheriff Barney," the mayor of nearby Greendale relates that Mayberry County has had the lowest crime rate in the state for two years in a row under Sheriff Taylor. The town only had one long-distance telephone line, as referenced in the episode "Man in a Hurry," that two old ladies shared each Sunday preventing others from using the telephone.
In the opening scene of season 8, episode 30, a sign at the railroad station lists the population and elevation of Mayberry:
However, this conflicts with the comment made by choir director John Masters to Andy Taylor, that "there's got to be a decent tenor in a town of two-thousand people" in the episode The Song Festers – season 4, episode 20. And, in season 7, episode 23, Howard Sprague refers to a population of 1,800.
Because the county and the town both have the same name, it's possible that the county's population is 5,360 and the town's is somewhere between 1,800 and 2,000.

Mayberrites

  • Nettie Albright, classmate who had a crush on Barney
  • Amanda, local prospect Barney selected to be Andy's future wife
  • Big Jack Anderson, area moonshiner who ran a still in the Rimshaw House
  • Teena Andrews, local citizen named Irene Phlogg who went on to become a famous movie star
  • Ramona Ankrum, quiet young woman from the family that owns the Ancrum Charcoal Company and love interest of Ernest T. Bass
  • Arnold Bailey, friend of Opie
  • Dr. Lou Bailey, father of Arnold Bailey
  • Barbara Sue, local citizen who wants to win "The Beauty Contest"
  • Ralph Barton, friend of Sam Jones
  • Ernest T. Bass, bothersome troublemaker who is fond of throwing rocks through windows
  • Charlie Beasley, local citizen with attractive muscles
  • Juanita Beasley, never seen waitress at the Bluebird Diner who flirts with Barney over the phone
  • Sam Becker, farmer and Korea War veteran who Barney suspects of growing marijuana
  • Tom Bedlow, local citizen who tried out for the barbershop quartet
  • Mrs. Beggs, local citizen
  • Dr. Bennett, physician
  • Henry Bennett, local citizen accused by Barney of being a jinx
  • Billy friend of Opie
  • Erma Bishop crowned Miss Mayberry in beauty contest for her kind and helpful nature
  • Leonard Blush, never seen local celebrity and former pupil of voice teacher Eleanora Poultice; "The Voice of Mount Pilot" on Mount Pilot radio station WMPD
  • Fred Boone, local citizen who loves bickering with his wife
  • Jennie Boone, wife of Fred Boone
  • Trey Bowden, friend of Opie
  • Nate Bracey, former classmate of Andy and Barney who attended the "Class Reunion"
  • Emma Brand-Watson, serial jaywalker and hypochondriac
  • Asa Breeney, security guard
  • George Bricker, postman
  • Ellen Brown, manicurist who came to Mayberry in search of a friendly town
  • Karen Burgess, Opie's classmate and girlfriend
  • Otis Campbell, town drunk and descendant of a Revolutionary War hero
  • Rita Campbell, wife of Otis Campbell
  • Ella Carson, local citizen seen in three episodes
  • Mary Alice Carter, Opie's first love
  • Emmett Clark, fix-it shop owner
  • Martha Clark, wife of Emmett Clark
  • Miss Clark, local citizen seen in two episodes
  • Flip Conroy, football coach at Opie's school
  • The Country Boys, five member bluegrass band
  • Mr. Crawford, pharmacist
  • Billy Crenshaw, Opie's rival for a delivery boy job
  • Glen Cripe, bass singer in the Mayberry town choir
  • Lydia Crosswaith, romantic interest of Goober Pyle
  • Art Crowley, grocer
  • Old Man Crowley, local citizen
  • Helen Crump, Kansas transplant, Opie's teacher, and Andy's girlfriend
  • The Darlings, hillbilly family that plays bluegrass music with Andy in several episodes
  • Sharon DeSpain, Andy's high school flame who returned to Mayberry for the "Class Reunion"
  • Fletch Dilbeck, local farmer who sells crops from the bed of his Chevrolet truck
  • Mr. Doakes, grocer
  • Clara Edwards, Aunt Bee's best friend
  • Ella, resident who writes a society column for The Mayberry Gazette
  • Elmo, local citizen
  • Warren Ferguson, Boston transplant and replacement deputy even more inept than Fife
  • Barney Fife, Andy's lifelong friend and deputy sheriff; later a detective with the Raleigh, North Carolina Police Department
  • Judd Fletcher, elderly local citizen
  • Charles 'Charley' Foley, proprietor of Foley's Grocery
  • Jubal Foster, local farmer and moonshiner
  • Mrs. Foster, neighbor of the Taylor family whose chicken a-la-king tasted like "wallpaper paste"
  • Mr. Frisby, local farmer and egg man
  • The Fun Girls, Andy and Barney's dates
  • Fred Goss, runs Mayberry's dry cleaning establishment
  • Billy Gray, friend of Opie
  • Sue Grigsby, wife of Harold Grigsby
  • Mr. Hampton, principal at Mayberry Union High School
  • Ralph Hanes, former classmate of Barney and Andy's who attended the "Class Reunion"
  • Harold Grigsby, saw mill owner
  • Harvey, local citizen seen in two episodes
  • Evan Hendricks, wild-driving son of Orville, known to break an egg or two
  • Orville Hendricks, butter and egg man from Mount Pilot
  • Hilda Mae, Barney's girlfriend in season one
  • George Hollander, high school history teacher
  • Martha Hollister, wife of Rafe Hollister
  • Rafe Hollister, local farmer and moonshiner
  • Cy Hudgins, local farmer who owns a goat named Jimmy that eats almost anything
  • Millie Hutchins, girlfriend of Sam Jones
  • Jason, clerk at the Mayberry Hotel
  • Johnny Paul Jason, best friend of Opie; nephew of Charley Foley
  • Joe, printer's apprentice
  • Mike Jones, son of Sam Jones
  • Sam Jones, farmer, single parent, and widower ; head of the Mayberry town council in Mayberry R.F.D.
  • Tillie Kincaid, friend of Clara Edwards and Aunt Bee
  • Edna Larch, local citizen seen in four episodes
  • Floyd Lawson, barber at Floyd's Barber Shop; father of Norman and Randall Lawson
  • Leon, toddler in a cowboy outfit who wanders the streets of Mayberry
  • Clara Lindsey, wife of Sam Lindsey
  • Jim Lindsey, talented guitarist who joins Bobby Fleet and His Band with a Beat
  • Sam Lindsey, husband of Clara Lindsey
  • Flora Malherbe, waitress at the Mayberry Diner; becomes Goober's girlfriend
  • John Masters, hotel clerk and director of the town's singing choir
  • Mr. McBeevee, lineman, who according to Opie, walks in the trees, wears a silver hat, jingles when he walks, and has twelve extra hands
  • Peggy McMillan, nurse and Andy's girlfriend
  • Mr. Meldrim, president of Mayberry Security Bank
  • Mrs. Mendelbright, Barney's landlady
  • Merle, town councilman
  • Malcolm Merriweather, English valet
  • Bert Miller, peddler
  • Orville Monroe, undertaker and TV repairman
  • Jimmy Morgan, mechanic at Wally's accused of being a thief
  • Morrison Sisters, moonshiners who runs the local flower shop
  • Sam Muggins, moonshiner accused of stealing business from the department store, incarcerated at the Mayberry Jail on Christmas Eve with his family
  • Frank Myers, elderly resident evicted for not paying taxes
  • Mavis Neff, employee at Walker's Drugstore who went on a date with Andy
  • Charlie O'Malley, wealthy resident who also owns a cabin outside of town
  • Mrs. Pendleton, head of the Mayberry school board and good friend of Martha Clark and Aunt Bee
  • Pete, local citizen frequently seen in Floyd's Barbershop
  • Burly Peters, local citizen and drummer in the Mayberry Band
  • Dr. Thomas Peterson, physician who replaced the retiring Dr. Bennett
  • Whitey Porter, friend of Opie
  • Josephine Pike, daughter of Mayor Pike
  • Mayor Pike mayor in the first two seasons
  • Whitey Porter, friend of Opie
  • Howie Pruitt, good friend of Opie
  • Jeff Pruitt, farmer who came to Mayberry to find a wife
  • Gomer Pyle, service station attendant at Wally's Filling Station for three seasons
  • Goober Pyle, auto mechanic at Wally's Garage and Filling Station
  • Dr. Roberts, local physician
  • Mrs. Rodenbach, local citizen seen in three episodes
  • Rose, Andy's housekeeper who got married and moved away, replaced by Aunt Bee
  • Rosemary, local prospect Barney selected to be Andy's future wife
  • Sam, local citizen often seen in Floyd's Barber Shop
  • Sandy, square dance caller
  • Sarah, often spoken to, but never seen, telephone operator
  • Ed Sawyer, mysterious stranger who moves to Mayberry and disrupts the lives of the townspeople because he appears to know startling facts about them
  • Mr. Schwamp, local citizen seen in at least 26 episodes of The Andy Griffith Show; also appeared in Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. and Mayberry R.F.D.
  • Ben Sewell, moonshiner who was ratted out by the Morrison sisters
  • Sharon, part of the Mayberry choir
  • Sheldon, local bully who extorts Opie for his milk money
  • Annabelle Silby, local do-gooder and wife of Tom Silby
  • Tom Silby, local citizen who returns to town after being declared dead
  • Mr. Simmons, proprietor of company called Simmons Seeds
  • Minnie 'Mary' Simpson, county nurse
  • Rube Sloane, moonshiner who was ratted out by the Morrison sisters
  • Howard Sprague, county clerk
  • Mrs. Sprague, overbearing mother of Howard Sprague
  • Fred Stevens, owner of Sterling Jewelry Store
  • Roy Stoner, mayor of Mayberry for three seasons, replacing Mayor Pike
  • Henrietta Swanson, local citizen whose daughter, Darlene, wants to enter "The Beauty Contest"
  • Millie Swanson, bakery clerk and girlfriend of Sam Jones
  • Billy Ray Talbot, postmaster
  • Cyrus Tankersley, local citizen
  • Andy Taylor, sheriff and widowed father
  • Beatrice Taylor, Andy's aunt and housekeeper, known as Aunt Bee
  • Opie Taylor, son of Andy
  • Thelma Lou, Barney's sweetheart
  • Farley Thurston, butter and egg man
  • Tommy, friend of Opie
  • Rev. Hobart M. Tucker, Pastor of the All Souls Church
  • Myra Tucker, local citizen seen in two episodes
  • Farley Upchurch, local citizen seen in two episodes
  • Ellie Walker, pharmacist and one-time love interest of Andy
  • Fred Walker, proprietor of Walker's Drug Store; uncle of Ellie Walker
  • Gilly Walker, high-strung friend of Goober Pyle
  • Wally, proprietor and principal mechanic of Wally's Filling Station
  • Dudley A. 'Dud' Wash, fiancée and eventual husband of Charlene Darling; father of Andelina Wash.
  • Joe Waters, local citizen seen in five episodes
  • Ben Weaver, flint-hearted proprietor of Weaver's Department Store and local landlord
  • Mary Wiggins, classmate of Opie
  • Mrs. Wiley, genealogy researcher who called Ernest T. Bass "a creature"
  • Ramona Wiley-Becktoris, one-time resident who dated Barney Fife and returned to Mayberry for the "Class Reunion"
  • Arnold Winkler, friend of Opie