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Pine Valley, Pennsylvania
'All My Children' location
Welcome to Pine Valley
Created byAgnes Nixon
GenreSoap opera
Information
TypeCity
Notable locationsVarious
Notable charactersVarious

Pine Valley, Pennsylvania is the fictional setting for the long-running American soap opera All My Children. It is a small suburb of Philadelphia. The town exists in the same fictional universe as cities from other existing or defunct ABC daytime dramas, including Llanview from One Life to Live, Port Charles from General Hospital, and Corinth from Loving.

History[]

Originally, it had long been believed that Pine Valley (or PV, as it is called by fans on the internet) was actually in New York State, not Pennsylvania. (Pine Valley, New York actually exists in Chemung County) But by the late 1990s, its state had not been mentioned for a few years. By 2000, it was implied that Pine Valley was actually in Pennsylvania, a few hours from Llanview. In more recent years, it was established that Pine Valley was only a few minutes from Llanview, during a 2004 storyline, where the two shows overlapped with characters. It is believed that the town is now based on the Philadelphia Main Line, a chain of well-to-do suburbs in the vicinity of Philadelphia. It has recently been suggested that the two cities of Pine Valley and Llanview are located on opposite sides of the Llantano River. In a 2010 documentary hosted by former resident Hayley Vaughan Santos, a map of the area showed Pine Valley to be located due north of the Pennsylvania town of Bryn Mawr, with Llanview to its southwest. Villanova University sits directly between Pine Valley and Llanview. In recent years the zip code is stated to be 19101.

The town, as the "Welcome" sign indicates, was founded in 1683 by a woman by the name of "Aggie." Since the show premiered in 1970, Pine Valley has grown to be a buzzing metropolis, full of many businesses and residents and a prominent skyline that was shown during the remarriage of Jesse Hubbard and Angie Baxter in 2008.

Some of the more recognizable companies are Chandler Enterprises, Cortlandt Electronics, and Enchantment Cosmetics. In 2002, Fusion Cosmetics was founded. Enchantment, another cosmetics company, has usually battled Fusion on the shelves of Lacey's, a popular department store in town.

Other places of business include The Serving Spoon, a food shop, the Glamorama, and the Boutique, owned by Myrtle Fargate before her death in 2009. Myrtle also operated her own boarding house. The Shack, The Valley Inn, and the Pine Cone Motel are also places of temporary residence in town. The Valley Inn's dining room is a popular restaurant, as well as ConFusion and the Yacht Club; while BJ's, S.O.S. (Sounds of Salsa), and the Pit are more casual dining possibilities. The Seasons Casino is also in town.

For education, there is Pine Valley High School and Pine Valley University. Medical cases are treated at both Pine Valley Hospital and the Front Street Clinic. One of the biggest houses in town is Wildwind, a large castle, while many other manors exist. The current police chief is Jesse Hubbard.

The most successful would be the Miranda Montgomery Center, and Cambias Industries owned by Ryan Lavery, and its heirs are Miranda Montgomery, Ian Slater, and Gabrielle Montgomery.

Disasters and major events[]

  • Pine Valley Tornado (July 1994)
On the night of Gloria and Adam Chandler's party, a violent tornado struck Pine Valley. Julia Santos was hit in the face by a falling chandelier, the result was a horrific scar. Multiple other injuries occurred. Many homes and buildings were destroyed or badly damaged, including Joe and Ruth Martin's house, where Tad Martin nearly lost his life and had an out-of-body experience.
  • Baby switch (March 2004 - February 2005)
In 2004, the producers of All My Children and One Life to Live decided to do a crossover storyline.[1][2] The storyline begins when Babe Carey finds herself pregnant, and does not know if the father is JR Chandler or Jamie Martin. She soon finds herself in the middle of a thunderstorm with an equally pregnant Bianca Montgomery. After becoming stranded in a cabin, Babe calls Paul Cramer, a paramedic in Llanview, to bring a helicopter, rescue and take them to a hospital. Paul initially refuses, but then agrees.
He arrives, and helps Babe deliver her baby. Bianca also delivers her baby. He then drugs Babe, and stages a helicopter crash. When Babe awakes, Paul tells her that her baby has been killed during the crash. However, the Chandler family soon arrive and threatens to harm Paul if anything happens to Babe's child. Paul changes the story to say that Bianca's baby is the one that had been thrown from the helicopter. In reality, Paul had hidden Babe's baby son in another nearby cabin, in hopes of giving it to his sister, Kelly Cramer, who longs for a child. Bianca's baby girl is given to Babe, who names the girl Bess, leaving the Kane and Montgomery families to grieve over the loss of the infant.
Babe starts to get increased 'feelings' that she delivered a boy. With the help of her mother, Krystal Carey, she discovers that Bess is really Miranda, the daughter that Bianca had given birth to. Krystal convinces her that the baby is better off with JR and Babe. Babe lets Bianca grieve.
JR, angry over the revelation of Babe and Jamie's night of passion, decides to gain custody of Bess. JR's main plan now is to paint Babe as an unfit mother. He drugs Babe in the hopes that she will sleep with Jamie again, but something goes wrong and Babe is hospitalized. This makes JR realize he may have gone too far, but he will not give up on trying to protect his little girl. Unknown to him, Jamie suspects JR of drugging Babe and tells her, who in turn tells JR of the matter. JR needs to protect himself and tells the drug dealer, Seth Phelps, to implicate Jamie as the culprit. Jamie is later convicted and sent to jail, where he ends up getting stabbed.
Babe decides to test JR with the help of Bianca and stages an affair to have JR show his real colors, which he does. Babe, facing the truth that JR is no longer in love with her, relinquishes custody of Bess and leaves town with a newly released Jamie. What JR does not know is that Babe has discovered that their son is truly alive and being raised by Paul's sister. She and Jamie devise a plan to kidnap the boy and go on the run with him. JR celebrates his victory until he read a letter Babe has left behind. The letter details the truth about Bess, that she is actually the late Miranda Montgomery, and their son died in the helicopter crash. JR tells Bianca what the letter said and thinking it was one of JR's lies, she ignores him. That helps JR to convince himself that it is one of Babe's many lies to hurt him. When Babe learns that Bianca has not gotten Miranda back, she contacts her and enlists Bianca's help in luring JR down to Florida with Bess.
Bianca and JR go to a Miranda Montgomery Foundation fundraiser in Florida, where JR spots Babe. He follows her to a deserted warehouse, only to be locked inside and taunted by his brother, Jamie, with the news of his child's death and the fact that Babe is going to reveal the truth about Miranda to Bianca. JR becomes angry and hits Jamie in the head with a pipe and is freed from the warehouse by Kendall Hart. Their brotherhood is over. When JR returns to his hotel room, Bianca is waiting. She holds Miranda after finally being told the truth and seeing Babe's son, who Babe is calling James. JR and Bianca get into an argument on the terrace because JR refuses to believe that Bess is Miranda. Bianca loses her balance and falls to the ground below. Bianca falls into a coma and JR's secret is safe for one more day.
JR returns to Pine Valley with "Bess" completely convinced that he well get to keep her. Unknown to him, Adam Chandler (his father) has given Erica Kane (Bianca's mother) permission to run a DNA test on the baby. Feeling the walls starting to close in on him, JR decides that it is time to leave town, but is intercepted at the last moment by Erica, Adam, Tad Martin, and company with the truth. In his getaway vehicle, he pronounces the death of his son, mother, and his other father...Tad. Handing Bess over, JR falls into a deep depression and spends all of his time in the nursery mourning the loss of his two children. Finally, after a couple of weeks, JR emerges with an idea in his head, and by simply tricking Bianca into telling him the truth, he finds out that his son is alive and that the people he thought cared about him wanted him to believe the child was dead.
JR sends his private investigators out to find Babe and Jamie, who are being helped by Liza Colby. Getting a major lead, JR jets down to New Orleans right before Babe and Jamie's trip to Venezuela and confronts them. The police arrive and force Babe to hand over the child, a baby boy, to JR. In JR's arms is the newest heir to the Chandler fortune, Adam Chandler III (later known as Little Adam). JR eventually wins sole custody of Adam III, even against dozens of people saying that he will be an unfit father.
  • Janet Dillon's Revenge Plot (November 2005 - February 2006) - Janet Green, hellbent on teaching Pine Valley a lesson, commits several crimes to get back for how they treated her daughter and frames Jonathan Lavery.
Killed her husband Trevor Dillon and stored him in a freezer.
Dangled Kendall Hart from a hammock on the edge of the Fusion rooftop.
Pushed Babe Carey down a flight of stairs at the hospital.
Drugged the pumpkin soup at the Chandler Thanksgiving dinner.
Knocked out David Hayward and scheduled him for open heart surgery.
Started the fire at the Road Side Bar that nearly killed Kendall Hart and Greenlee Smythe.
Kidnapped Little Adam and dropped him off in a manger scene.
Pushed Di Henry through the ice at the boathouse.
Drugged Krystal Carey and Babe.
Kidnapped Brooke English, Joe Martin, Opal, Adam, and Krystal, leaving them in the back of a truck which was sinking into quicksand.
Loosened the gas valve and set the explosions at Erica Kane's Mardi Gras Ball.
Killed Ethan Cambias, as a result of the explosions at the Ball.
Kidnapped Babe and Little Adam to make JR Chandler think that Babe kidnapped him.
Left Babe in a freezer, nearly killing her.
Janet Dillon's final act on her revenge on Pine Valley.
  • Satin Slayer (December 2006 - March 2007) - A serial killer linked to Zach Slater's past, is targeting the women of Fusion Cosmetics, which was later revealed to be Zach's father Alexander Cambias.
December 4: Simone Torres found dead in the Fusion office lying on a yoga mat with a ribbon in her hand and a gardenia in her hair.
December 11: Erin Lavery found dead on the Fusion roof top with a ribbon and a gardenia in her hand.
January 8: Danielle Frye found poisoned in her father's house, with a ribbon and a gardenia on her, after drinking a soda that had been poisoned.
January 26: Dixie Cooney Martin poisoned by tainted peanut butter intended for Babe Carey; revealed alive May 2011.
February 9: Max, Babe Carey's body guard, killed just as he was going to drive her home, hit with a blow dart.
February 9: Babe Carey, injected while on her way home from Chandler Enterprises; she was saved and hidden in the Seasons Casino leading everyone to believe she was dead.
February 20: Zoe is beaten up by the killer and she is left for dead.
February 23: Zach Slater is shot with a tranquilizer gun.
February 26: Raymond Jenkins, Fusion's lawyer, found dead outside of Kendall and Zach's new home, having fallen from the balcony, the same way Amelia Cambias died.
February 26: An Amelia Cambias lookalike shot dead for arguing about what happened to Zach.
  • Papel's Last Strike (May 2008) - During Angie and Jesse Hubbard's Wedding at the Seasons East Casino, Robert Gardner is finally revealed as 'Papel', the man responsible for Jesse's 20 year ordeal. Seeking retribution for the last 20 years of hunting Jesse down for the hidden diamond, Robert shoots and holds many people hostage in the main ball room trying to escape with Angie as his main hostage.
Locked Opal in the broom closet.
Took Angie Hubbard hostage at gun point.
Shot at JR Chandler and Babe Carey nearly hitting them outside of their hotel room.
Shot Julia Santos and Greg Nelson ultimately resulting in the death of Julia.
Shot Tad Martin as well as the helicopter pilot on the rooftop.
  • Pine Valley Tornadoes (October 2008) - A series of tornadoes hit Pine Valley and destroy everything in its path.
Opal suffered a heart attack.
Numerous houses and buildings destroyed.
Multiple injuries occurred for the Pine Valley citizens.
Pinned Babe and Little Adam under a bunch of rubble at The Comeback, resulting in the death of Babe.
Pinned Greenlee and Ryan under a bunch of rubble at the local shed.
Trapped Erica and Adam in a cellar at the Chandler Mansion.
Destroyed the beach house with Kendall, Bianca, Spike, and Ian inside, leading to a crashing wall falling on Kendall and cause brain swelling and Bianca giving birth to a baby girl, Gabrielle.
Natalia Hubbard suffered head trauma caused from falling walls at The Comeback.
Petey Cortlandt gets banged on the head from a falling door.
Taylor accidentally gets pushed down the hospital stairs by Zach.
Lifted Zach's car into the air and landed onto power lines.
A power line fell on Aidan's arm, breaking it.
Emma Lavery was kidnapped
  • Murder Mystery 2009 (May-October 2009) - A legendary character is killed, sparking a murder mystery.
May 2009: In a case of mistaken identity, Stuart Chandler is fatally shot in place of his twin brother Adam Chandler.
October 22, 2009: Killer revealed to be Adam Chandler.
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