Most of Nancy's mysteries take place in her hometown of River Heights, so, naturally, we want to read all about it. I have used The Nancy Drew Scrapbook by Karen Plunkett-Powell as a start and added to it. Please e-mail me at sharon@bookloversden.com if you have additional information or insights! We will explore the size, location, slums , neighborhoods, government and businesses in River Heights.
River Heights is a mythical city of medium size. Actually, it grows throughout the series. "Through the decades, Carolyn Keene has added new streets, business establishments, and parks as the stories required them, along with airports and train stations to help Nancy and her friends travel to and from the city," said Karen Plunkett-Powell in The Nancy Drew Scrapbook.
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River Heights has changed location throughout the series. Originally, it was located in Iowa, homeplace of Mildred Wirt Benson. This is shown by descriptions of farmlands and cornfields (see the original Red Gate Farm especially). In later early volumes, however, Carson Drew goes "west" to Chicago. Unless I have been mistaken all my life about compass directions, River Heights has moved east. Harriet Adams, when she revised the series, moved River Heights still further east, probably close to New Jersey, where the Stratemeyer Syndicate was located, because of speech patterns and the fact that New York was close by. "After a check of shuttle flight schedules and a hasty lunch with Hannah, she set off for the airport.... Two hours later, Nancy was walking down Madison Avenue...." (The Mysterious Image) Living in St. Louis, I know that it takes more than a shuttle flight from the Midwest to New York and takes longer than two hours to leave for the airport, fly there, leave the airport and walk down Madison Avenue. Betsy Caprio, in her book The Mystery of Nancy Drew, hypothesizes that River Heights is in Ohio. In the current books, River Heights has moved back to the Midwest; writer's guidelines place it as a suburb of Chicago. "The trip [from River Heights to Chicago] took less than an hour door to door." (Counterfeit Christmas) Since the radio stations start with a W, we know it is east of the Mississippi. I prefer the smaller town feeling of Iowa, but Chicago would definitely present opportunities for crime. Most readers place River Heights close to where they live--it seems to be left up to the imagination.
The Muskoka River runs through the middle of River Heights. County officials erected a railroad bridge over the river. River Road runs alongside the river (The Secret of the Old Clock) and leads to outlying towns such as Masonville, Cliffwood, Welding, Winslow and Mapleton--Ned Nickerson's hometown. Route 10A leads to Titusville (The Secret of the Old Clock). Other nearby towns include Riverside Heights (The Secret of Red Gate Farm). Oakville is about 20 miles away. (The Riddle in the Rare Book); same for Brandon (The Clue of the Velvet Mask). Ashton is another small university town (Ashland University) close to River Heights. (The Mysterious Image) Knightsville is about an hour's drive (Counterfeit Christmas). Tracey Lake, resort area, is about 50 miles north (Counterfeit Christmas).
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Early books differentiated between the "nice" and the "wrong side of the tracks" portions of town. The Heights section, where Nancy lived had many mysteries, but no resident unsavory characters. The books were written during the depression, but you would not know it by Nancy's neighborhood. Across the tracks, literally, was the part of town where all the thugs, foreigners and blacks lived. The revised editions edited out these racist stereotypes. Dockville, in Mystery at Lilac Inn, exemplified the bad part of town.
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Like any real town, River Heights had city government ranging from police department (with Chief McGinnis) to city hall. George worked for reelection of Councilman Tim Terry in Nancy Drew Case File #33: Danger in Disguise.
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River Heights is a flourishing town with many shops and businesses. I have listed some of these and their references when I have been able to find them. Please e-mail me with more at sharon@bookloversden.com .
Transportation
Hospitals
Bank
Other
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