Mt. Airy, North Carolina Celebrates Andy Griffith with Mayberry Days

In 1960, the first episode of "the Andy Griffith Show" aired, bringing the fictional town of Mayberry to life.  Many of the sites depicted on the show come from Griffith's hometown of Mt. Airy, North Carolina.

In recent days, the old jail that served as the inspiration for Mayberry's lock-up has been undergoing a renovation, as volunteers with the Hampton Save-A-Landmark program paint, clean, scrub, spackle, and polish the 100-year old slammer.  Pop Culture Historian Chris Epting says "what stands out is obviously it's a rugged place and I'm sure 50 or 60 years ago it held some pretty rough customers here but again it's a typical city jail, built to last, and the fact that it hasn't been used for a while really made it a landmark we wanted to seek out and refurbish."

The Old City Jail was home to Mt. Airy's real jail until about 20-years ago.  Now, it stands as one of several spots in town, like Floyd's barbershop and Wally's filling station, that fans of "the Andy Griffith Show" can visit.  Epting says "the Andy Griffith Show was filmed in Los Angeles, but given that fact that he grew up here, he relied on his knowledge and memories of the town, what things looked like, what people looked like, and so a lot of places and characters were based on things right here in Mt. Airy."

Mt. Airy celebrates its connection every year with "Mayberry Days," which gets underway today and runs through Sunday.  You can check out a line-up of guests and events here.

And of course, "the Andy Griffith Show" airs right here on WDEF News 12, weekdays at 7:30pm.