Some friends and I have been playing a game — naming the most famous fictional locale in each state. Here are the ones we've come up with, so far. [Updated with commenter suggestions. Updated again with a further explanation of the game.]
Cicely, AK
Maycomb, AL (easily beating Whistle Stop)
Shoyo, AR
Hill Valley, CA (edging out Carbonville, Sunnydale, and others)
South Park, CO
Stepford, CT (edging out Stars Hollow)
Metropolis, DE
Vice City, FL (edging out Seahaven)
Tara, GA
River City, IA
Spoon River, IL
Pawnee, IN (easily beating Cliffordville and Hickory)
Port William, KY
Smallville, KS
Bon Temps, LA
Arkham, MA
Woodcrest, MD
Cabot Cove, ME (edging out Derry)
Yoknapatawpha County, MS
Lake Woebegone, MN (edging out Frostbite Falls)
St. Petersburg, MO (easily beating Petticoat Junction and Green Acres)
Gatlin, NB
Desperation, NV
Peyton Place, NH
Seven Cities of Cibola, NM
Sleepy Hollow, NY (edging out Bedford Falls)
Mayberry, NC
Blessing, ND
Gotham City, NJ
Grover's Corners, NH (probably)
Winesburg, OH
Summerville, OK (edging Creed, though neither is really famous)
Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, PA
Quahog, RI
London, SD
Harper Valley, TN (beating Mayor's Income)
Lonesome Dove, TX (narrowly edging Anarene, on the theory that a McMurtry miniseries beats a McMurtry film)
Langley Falls, VA (edging Walton's Mountain)
Mandrake Falls, VT (because we already have Peyton Place, NH)
Twin Peaks, WA
Silent Hill, WV
Signal, WY
Indeterminate locales include Wisteria Lane (Desperate Housewives), Riverdale (Archie), Kindle County (Scott Turow), Bayport (Hardy Boys), Monticello (in the Midwest; Edge of Night), Springfield (The Simpsons), and no doubt others,
Additional nominations welcome.
But to be clear: the game is about completely fictional settings, not real real place names that have been fictionalized in novels, plays, video games, or films. Maycomb and Mayberry count, even though they are based on Monroeville and Mt. Airy, but Fargo and Dulvey do not. In cases of multiple nominations for the same state, I will make a judgment based on my intuitions about fame or notoriety.
Stars Hollow, CT
Maycomb or Maycome, AL (To Kill a Mockingbird) – or Whistle Stop, AL from Fried Green Tomatoes
Shoyo, AR (Stephen King)
South Park, CO – or Holt, CO (Kent Haruf novels)
Pawnee, IN (Parks & Rec)
Cabot Cove, ME (Murder She Wrote) – or Empire Falls, ME
Desperation, NV (Stephen King)
Two Mills, PA (Maniac McGee)
Quahog, RI (Family Guy)
London, SD (Baldacci Novel)
Thanks, Grant. I have added to the list.
Durant, Wyoming (Longmire)
Signal, Wyoming (Brokeback Mountain)
Added.
Derry, Maine (also from Stephen King)
Seahaven, Florida (from the movie "The Truman Show")
Wakonda, Oregon. Or Castle Rock.
Doesn't South Park, CO kinda already exist? That big plain around Fairplay? Anyway…
Arkham trumps Payton Place in MA
Gatlin or Hemingford Home, NE
Silent Hill, WV
Dulvey, LA
Creed, OK
Port William, KY
Tara, GA
Vice City, FL
I think some famous soaps were based in PA, like AMC and 1L2L, but I don't know for sure because my life isn't dreadful.
Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood (including the Land of Make Believe), in Pennsylvania. It's unambiguously fictional, of course, but not unambiguously Pennsylvanian. The Neighborhood was a place but not a town. Fred Rogers was a Latrobe native and a Pittsburgh resident, and the live segments for the show were frequently shot, like the studio portions, in Pittsburgh. The 3D model of the Neighborhood that was shown in the opening and closing segments, and the Trolley, were clearly inspired by Pittsburgh. so it may not fit your criteria. But Pennsylvania is unrepresented!
Kindle County is modeled on Cook County, Illinois
Thanks, Kevin. Yes, although loosely: there is a ferry in Kindle County, but not in Cook, for example.
Pretty much every fictional locale is modeled on a real place. Gotham City has been called "New York at night."
Mayor's Income, TN, from the Tom Waits song "What's He Doing in There?".
Bayport (where the Hardy Boys were from)
Monticello (in the midwest – the setting of "The Edge of Night")
And Peyton Place (though you're probably getting the impression that I'm an afficionado of 1960s soap operas)
Anarene, TX (Last Picture Show)
Final thoughts. There's the TX trio of Highland (B&B), Arlen (KotH), and Lawndale (Daria) for an honorary mention all from the same creator.
Woodcrest – MD
Mandrake Falls – VT (or NH? Mr. Deeds Goes to Town)
Blessing – ND
Summerville – OK
My RA recommends Bon Temps – LA
Cliffordville, Indiana (Twilight Zone episode "Of Late I Think of Cliffordville")(Sorry Mike Madison; he knows there is oil under the town, so I thought it might be Pennsylvania, but no)
Willoughby (Twilight Zone episode "A Stop in Willoughby") He works for an ad agency and takes a commuter train, so I think we have to locate this outside NYC or possibly Chicago.
Before Pawnee was ever thought of, there was Hickory, Indiana (Hoosiers). And Hickory had a better basketball team.
Sleepy Hollow is not a fictional place.
You raise an interesting question, Rebecca. Sleepy Hollow was definitely a fictional locale when Washington Irving wrote "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" in 1819. The village now known as Sleepy Hollow was originally called North Tarrytown (itself incorporated only in the late 19th century), officially taking the legendary name only in 1996.
So Irving's Sleepy Hollow was conceived in fiction, and therefore qualifies for the list.
Springfield, the state in which Springfield is located (Simpsons)
Anarene was The Last Picture Show town's name only in the movie. Thalia is the name of the town in the book and its progeny: Texasville, Duane's Depressed, and Rhino Ranch AND in Horseman, Pass By (the basis for the film Hud) and Leaving Cheyenne. I think that beats a miniseries by a mile.
For Virginia, the first two that came to mind were Walton's Mountain, from "The Waltons," or Langley Falls, from "American Dad."