‘Leave It to Beaver’: Where Did The Cleaver Family Live?
Leave It to Beaver ran for six seasons from 1957 to 1963. The series followed Theodore ‘The Beaver’ Cleaver as he got himself into trouble at school, at home, and around the fictional town of Mayfield. The wholesome series resonated with fans in the 1950s and 1960s and continues to gain fans even today. There is one controversy about the family show, though. No one can seem to agree on where in the United States Mayfield was located.
Fans believe Mayfield was located in Wisconsin, Illinois, or Ohio
Fans of the series have spent decades looking for clues that would reveal the location of the Cleaver family’s fictional home. Strangely enough, those same fans have come up with clues that point to three different locals. According to Little Things, a few episodes reference Wisconsin landmarks, leading some fans to believe the fictional Mayfield is in the country’s cheese capital.
Silent Locations, however, notes that the series appeared to use footage of Skokie, Illinois, in several episodes depicting Mayfield’s main street. If that is true, then Mayfield may have been a suburb of Chicago. Finally, Ohioan fans point out that Ohio has a town called Mayfield. They also claim the show frequently referenced locations in and around the real Mayfield, Ohio. That’s not a huge surprise, though. Mayfield is a popular town name. There are 18 towns of Mayfield in the United States, including one in Wisconsin.
Leave It to Beaver often referenced water, making the three locations seem unlikely.
In one episode of the series, it was stated that the family lived about 20 minutes from the water. Fans largely believed they were referring to the ocean because surfing was mentioned in the series, too. If the family’s fictional town was based on Skokie, Mayfield, Ohio, or somewhere near Madison, Wisconsin, the beach would be far from 20 miles away.
The closest beach to Skokie that is not a lake is Gulf Shores, Alabama. It is nearly 1,000 miles away, or a 14-hour car ride. Skokie is, however, close to one major body of water. The Chicago suburb sits just a few miles away from Lake Michigan’s shores, so it’s possible the water references in Leave It to Beaver were referencing a lake instead of an ocean or a gulf. Mayfield, Ohio, is about 20 miles from Lake Erie but several hundreds of miles from the ocean. Madison, Wisconsin, is within driving distance of Lake Michigan, too.
Mayfield was a made-up town on Leave It to Beaver and the actual location was never revealed
While all three locations might be a good guess, in reality, Mayfield’s actual location was never revealed. According to Me TV, the show never came out and mentioned what state the family lives in. That was likely by design. The ambiguous location helped ensure a larger audience could connect to the show.
Leave It to Beaver was hardly unique in that respect. Several popular shows refused to reveal their location. Instead, they opted to create a fictional world that could exist anywhere in the United States. For decades, fans of The Simpsons debated the city that the Simpson family’s fictional Springfield is based on. The town name was used so fans could think the Springfield in their state was the inspiration for the animated town. In 2012, Matt Groening put the debate to rest. He admitted The Simpsons fictional town was based on Springfield, Oregon.
