The filming locations of The Walking Dead
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The Walking Dead was vital in convincing a great deal of the film and TV production industry to move operations to Georgia. It also single-handedly revived some of the smaller cities in the region such as Senoia, GA (pronounced Suh-NOY), which has grown faster than 95% of similarly-sized US cities, having expanded by 188% since 2000. Currently, Senoia greets countless tourists each year who are eager to see the sights of AMC's signature series for themselves.
A small city located about 40 miles outside of Atlanta in Coweta County, Senoia was established in 1860 by Reverend Francis Warren Baggarly. Four years later, residents from a neighboring community, known then as Willow Dell, began integrating into Senoia and the first buildings (a mercantile factory and a Methodist Episcopal church led by Baggarly), were erected in Senoia. The following year, a high school would be constructed, and in December 1866 the town was officially incorporated as a city.
On The Walking Dead, the town stood in for the fortified city of Woodbury in season 3, as well as the walled-off Alexandria Safe-Zone, where Senoia displayed it's acting range by depicting a city in Virginia. So close are the locations used for the two disparate societies that in the background of many Alexandria-set scenes, both Woodbury's water tower and the apartment building of David Morrisey's fearsome Governor can be glimpsed.
Most of The Walking Dead, especially its interiors, are lensed at Raleigh Studios in Senoia, which is unfortunately not open to the public. However, much of Senoia (especially its Main Street) has been utilized by The Walking Dead for various scenes across a number of seasons, and the town now operates a cottage-industry of zombified tourism.
Join us as EW traverses the iconic settings in and around Senoia of your favorite Walking Dead moments.
The Center for Disease Control (Atlanta, GA 30339)
During the final two episodes of the first season, the CDC headquarters, where Rick (Andrew Lincoln) seeks refuge and discovers the truth about the infection, was played by the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, appropriately situated in northwest Atlanta's Cobb County near a village called Vinings that runs along the Chattahoochee River. The building's asymmetrical roof and Lincoln Center-inspired glass facade is the perfect match for the icy modernity that the CDC facility was to convey.
The Cobb Centre houses a 10,000-square-foot ballroom, which is available for rentals if you wish to occupy a piece of Walking Dead history on your special occasion, as well as the John A. Williams Theatre, a 2,750 seat venue that was built specifically to lure Broadway touring companies. Since it opened, the theater has welcomed acts as diverse as Harry Connick Jr., Demi Lovato, and ABBA; if you happen to be in Atlanta come Christmas time (specifically Dec. 9-26), you can pop into the Centre's production of The Nutcracker.
Unlike many of The Walking Dead's shooting locales, the Cobb Centre has been utilized in a number of additional films. You may recall seeing it in Dumb and Dumber To, when Harry (Jeff Daniels) and Lloyd (Jim Carrey) attend the KEN talk (supposedly in El Paso, Texas). Notably, the Centre also makes an appearance in the Pitch Perfect-canon (the aca-non) as a venue at which the Bellas have previously performed, though this is only referred to in dialogue, so the Centre doesn't physically appear in the franchise.
The Pudding House (Senoia, GA 30276)
The house in which Carl (Chandler Riggs) outwits a hungry walker in season four and rewards himself with a gargantuan can of chocolate pudding is a two-story Craftsman-style abode, built sometime between 1910 and 1920 by Senoia cotton merchant Oscar Mann. It was fully remodeled by its former owners in 2015, which means most of the interiors you see on The Walking Dead no longer exist in that form, though the renovators left the original hardwood floors intact. The four bed/four bath estate is privately owned, so unfortunately not available for rentals or tours, though it seems the current inhabitants maintain a good sense of humor about their home's chilling history. If you're curious to see how the estate looks post-pudding party, you can get your fill with a variety of sunny photographs on the home's Zillow page.
Driftwood Beach (Jekyll Island, Glynn County, GA)
Located at the north end of Jekyll Island, one of the Golden Isles of Georgia, the white sands of Driftwood Beach were named for the knotted, re-formed trees that dot the idyllic landscape, some of which are as many as 500 years old. On The Walking Dead, Driftwood Beach is cast as the Virginia-based, matriarchal Oceanside community where Tara (Alanna Masterson) washes ashore in season seven.
The production team couldn't have selected a more vivid location than Driftwood Beach, which even before its exposure on national television was a popular destination for both wedding photoshoots and ceremonies, as well as those simply seeking a bit of peace and quiet for a few hours. Its singular vistas are enhanced by the trees, which took on their formations after hundreds of years of water erosion. Something important to consider if you're planning a jaunt to Driftwood Beach: The availability of both seating and walking areas on the beach itself is entirely dependent on the tides. When the tide is high, you'll be holding on for dear life as the sand is more or less entirely submerged, so it's not ideal for a picnic or sunbathing. To determine the best time to visit, you can check out this tide chart provided by the Golden Isles website.
Rick and Lori's House (Atlanta, GA 30315)
In the pilot episode of The Walking Dead, after leaving the hospital, Rick rides an abandoned bicycle back to the home he shared with Lori and Carl pre-zombie apocalypse, only to find them missing. While collecting himself on the front porch, Rick is cracked over the head by an overzealous tween with a shovel, who is revealed to be Duane (Adrian Kali Turner), along with his father Morgan (Lennie James), who appears and executes a hungry walker before the trio go on to spend an amiable night together in the house.
Rick's family home is located on a tree lined street just a stone's throw from Grant Park, a 131.5 acre public space that, having opened in 1883, is credentialed as the oldest surviving city park in Atlanta. (Rick's house was erected some time later, in 1897.) Prior to being run out of their property by ravenous walkers, Rick and his brood would have enjoyed a luxurious life in their three bedroom/two bathroom house on a quiet tree-lined street. The spaciously appointed dual-story home features two working fireplaces as well as a chef's kitchen and separate dry bar, as well as a covered deck in the backyard for all-seasons. The home also boasts 11 ft. ceilings in each room and a claw foot bathtub in the master bathroom, which means that Rick Grimes may have been the highest paid sheriff in history.
The City of Senoia, GA
Prior to providing a variety of locations for The Walking Dead, Senoia hosted several different film productions, including Footloose (2011), Pet Sematary Two (1992), The Fighting Temptations (2003), and two Jessica Tandy projects — Driving Miss Daisy (1989) and Fried Green Tomatoes (1991). (The city's motto? "The perfect setting. For life.") It was AMC's juggernaut hit that put the little town on the map, however, making it a lifelong destination for fervent fans of the show and even bumping up the town's population. After The Walking Dead wrapped filming and deconstructed all of the sets, 10 of the homes that the production built to film around were sold. As of 2016, there were 50 bustling businesses flanking Main Street compared to just five in 2006, as well as a plethora of exploration options for fans wishing to seek out filming spots.
A couple of the most popular bets in town are the Touring Dead Walking Tours, which are hosted by Georgia Touring Company and lead by guides cosplaying as your favorite characters from the show. "I opened for business in 2012 when they began filming, but had no idea what was coming," Julie Brown, the owner of Georgia Touring Company, told EW.
When filming ramped up a few years later, Brown began the first iteration of The Touring Dead, a two hour walking (or golf cart) experience specifically for the locations in downtown Senoia, whose Main Street provided the iconic location of Woodbury. The since-retired Touring Dead II was "a five-hour tour…where we had a team of highly-skilled stunt actors portray heroes and villains from the show and perform fight scenes live in front of our tour guests on-location." Logistical issues saw the second incarnation of the tour come to an end in 2019, though its successor, The Touring Dead III, is very much up and running, taking fans on explorations of different filming locales outside of downtown Senoia.
"We have exclusive access to several locations throughout the region," Brown noted. "Unfortunately, some of the locations we used to visit are going away as properties are being sold and redeveloped. However, we have over 40 locations we still visit over the two mobile tours and [we are] adding to the list as the last few episodes air, [including] scenes coming from the series finale that we cannot divulge yet."
Amongst the myriad locations fans may visit during The Touring Dead III are Negan's outpost, where Rick and his compatriots face off against the Saviors in season eight, as well as Negan's house from the seminal "Here's Negan" episode in season 10. The journey also snakes through the city of Hampton, where Glenn (Steven Yeun) endures his controversial dumpster dive during the sixth season, and stops off at the bar in Hogansville which Beta (Ryan Hurst) visits in season 10 along with Alpha's (Samantha Morton) severed head after the latter's death. Walking Dead-heads can book excursions with Georgia Touring Company online here.
After exploring your favorite filming locations, you can dine at one of the most popular additions to Main Street within the last few years. Nic and Norman's is an American pub designed to evoke a '30s speakeasy that Walking Dead actor Norman Reedus (Daryl) and the show's co-executive producer and director Greg Nicotero opened with their business partners in 2016.
The menu is fairly straightforward pub grub, with burgers and flatbreads in addition to a variety of more imaginative dishes such as brisket mac and cheese, fried chicken pot pie, and braised pork shank slow-cooked in a Coca Cola reduction. If you do turn up for a meal, be sure to consider Reedus and Nicotero's namesake burgers. Reedus' burger, "Norman's Pick," is a plant-based Impossible patty "topped with a fried egg and dressed with beets, avocado, spinach, and soy ginger sauce" that the actor recommends with a lettuce wrap as opposed to a bun, while "Greg's Pick" is a patty made out of ground chuck, short rib and brisket served over baby blend lettuce, onions, tomato, pickles, topped with the restaurant's signature N&N sauce, which Reedus and Nicotero invented themselves. Unfortunately, there's nothing on the menu for your undead friends, so they'll need to scavenge elsewhere.
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