Exploring Grantville, GA: The Walking Dead and Cherry Tucker

The small, rural town of Halo of Forks County, Georgia, is the fictional hometown of Cherry Tucker and friends in the Cherry Tucker Mystery Series. When I'm attending local events, I'm often asked if Halo is based on a particular town in Georgia. I grew up in and around small towns, and truly Halo is an amalgamation of Southern and Midwestern towns (and even a small Japanese town I once lived in). I've thrown in shops both real and imaginary. The residents are fictionalized versions of personalties I've encountered.

Senoia's tracks I used for a scene in Hijack in Abstract

I live near Senoia, a quaint Georgian town used as a location set for many movies and TV shows (most famously, Fried Green Tomatoes and The Walking Dead) and recently home to Zac Brown's Southern Ground Social Club. Senoia was also a whistlestop with the early twentieth century bungalows and late Victorian houses you find in Halo. Since the production companies have moved in, Senoia has gentrified with a darling downtown with shops, restaurants, and Southern Living Idea Houses (and on certain weeks zombies and camera crews). However, Halo is on the cusp of renewal and lacks the funding of movie studios to pretty it up.

A Walking Dead barricade in Senoia

Downtown Grantville.
Imagine this building as the Tru-Buy grocery store
or Halo Herald

Which brings me to Grantville, another Walking Dead location town. Another whistlestop with turn of the century houses and buildings. Like Halo, Grantville has seen better days. I am friendly with the mayor, Jim Sells, and know he is hard at work to bring businesses and funding to Grantville, to revive its economy. Grantville is Halo in many ways (minus the town square and local businesses) and the moment I drove off the interstate and into the town, I knew in my heart this was Cherry Tucker's world.

Grantville's tracks

Examples of traditional, early twentieth century homes found in small depot towns like Grantville. Or Halo. 

Cherry's bungalow?

Although this is more what I imagined.

Mr. Johnson's (Cherry's neighbor) house.

Or this.

Picture yourself in Cherry's Datsun.

What do you think of when you imagine fictional small towns? Are these examples different than how you pictured Halo? Any Grantville or Senoia fans out there?