Hill and Main Street signage in 1985.

Second Street signage in 1955.

"He [Doc] sighed. That was one of the problems with time traveling. A couple of the roads he had expected to take [by bicycle] to get here [Mason Street] hadn't been built yet."

—From Back to the Future Part II by Craig Shaw Gardner (quote, page 159)

Hill Valley, California, is depicted in the Back to the Future trilogy in great detail. Not only are street addresses mentioned in the dialogue, but maps and a 1955 telephone directory page are shown as well. Two major state highways converge near Courthouse Square, where U.S. Route 395, running north-south along Main Street intersects with U.S. Route 8, which runs east-west along Second Street and parallel to Hill Street.

The origin of the street numbering system is near the Hill Valley Railroad Station.^[1]

In relation to the clock tower, the Western Auto store and the Bank of America are to the north on Second Street. The McFly farm in 1885, and the Pohatchee Drive-In Theatre in 1955, appear to be located north of Hill Valley, as Marty McFly walks down the railroad tracks from the north, before reaching Hill Valley Railroad Station.

The Town Theater is to the east of the clock tower, on a street whose name is not shown (although it was referred to in the first draft as Monroe Avenue)^[2]. The street, however, is identified as Hubbard Avenue in an ad for Statler Studebaker.^[3] After passing through the square in 1985, Marty continues east to get to Hill Valley High School. With Jennifer Parker, he walks back from the east side after the Battle of the Bands.

The Essex Theater is to the south of the clock tower, on the 400 block of Hill Street. When Marty rides on his skateboard from Doc's garage in 1985, he approaches from the south. In walking from 2 mile marker at the future site of Lyon Estates in 1955, he also approaches town from the south (in 2015, Doc flies from Lyon Estates from the west side on an east-west skyway). When Marty returns to 1985, he runs south toward the Lone Pine Mall.

Lou's Cafe and the Texaco service station are to the west of the clock tower, on the 100 block of Main Street. Marty travels west as he runs after George in 1955. When he arrives in town in 1885, he comes from the west side, where the railroad station is located a few blocks away from the square.

North-south streets

Mason Street, where Biff Tannen lived in 1955, and Sycamore Street, where George McFly and Lorraine Baines both had houses, were on a north-south line. Streets following a north-south route are Main Street, North Avenue, North Salt Lake Avenue, South State Street, and Temple Street. In addition, Maple Street and Riverside Drive (later John F. Kennedy Drive) are described as being "on the east end of town" by Sam Baines, with the latter being a major north-south thoroughfare by 1985. The Central Pacific Railroad tracks also ran through town north to south.

East-west streets

The numbered streets, ranging from "East 2nd Street" as far as "43rd Street", follow an east-west direction. Among the addresses seen in the phone book are "214 E. 2nd", "230 E. 3rd", "1438 W. 4th", "281 West 23rd", "2407 East 33rd" and "604 East 39th". Parallel streets running east to west are Hill Street, Sandy Street, and West Drive. Cherry Street intersected with Main Street.

Other throughfares

Named streets and roads

• E Street, G Street
• Almond Street
• Alta View Drive, Midrie
• Baltic Court
• Broadway (East-west)
• Bothwell Street
• Business Center Road — location of CusCo in 2015, Marty's employer.
• Cherry Street
• Colorado Street
• Crescent Street
• Denver Street
• Diana Lane
• Diestel Road
• Edison Street
• Elizabeth Street
• Emigration Canyon
• Gilmer Drive
• Glen Street
• Greenwood Terrace
• Hill Place
• Hillsden Drive
• Hoffer Street
• Jeremy Street
• John F. Kennedy Drive (Riverside Drive in 1955)
• Kelly Smunt Lane
• Lake Street
• Lincoln Street
• Lyon Drive
• Maple Street
• Mason Street
• McClelland Street
• Navaho Street
• Nerual Circle
• Oakhurst Street — located south of downtown Hill Valley, across Eastwood Ravine, at the Hilldale neighborhood. Marty McFly lived here in 2015 after wrecking his truck nearby in 1985.
• Oakwood Street? (As Oakwd)
• Orchard Drive
• Oriole Road — 2015 residence of Douglas J. Needles, at 88 Oriole Road
• Park Street
• River Road — road between Biff Tannen's home on Mason Street, and the Hill Valley High School. The road passes through a tunnel that goes underneath Deacon's Hill. Biff wrecked his car outside the tunnel on November 5, 1955, shortly after Marty took the Grays Sports Almanac from him.
• Rose Circle
• Salt Lake Street
• Sandy Street
• State Street
• Temple Street
• Wasatch Street
• Washington Street
• Williams Court
• Woodman Road
• Woodside Drive (North-south)
• Yermo Street

Numbered streets

• 1st Street or Main Street
• 2nd Street or Second Street
• 3rd Street or Hill Street
• 4th Street
• 5th Street
• 6th Street
• 7th Street
• 8th Street
• 9th Street
• 10th Street
• 11th Street
• 12th Street
• 13th Street
• 14th Street
• 15th Street
• 16th Street
• 17th Street
• 18th Street
• 19th Street
• 20th Street
• 21st Street
• 22nd Street
• 23rd Street
• 24th Street
• 25th Street
• 26th Street
• 27th Street
• 28th Street
• 29th Street
• 30th Street
• 31st Street
• 32nd Street
• 33rd Street
• 34th Street
• 35th Street
• 36th Street
• 37th Street
• 38th Street
• 39th Street
• 40th Street
• 41st Street
• 42nd Street
• 43rd Street (Highest number in 1955 phone directory)

Avenues

• 1st Avenue
• 2nd Avenue
• 3rd Avenue
• 4th Avenue
• 5th Avenue
• 6th Avenue
• 7th Avenue
• 8th Avenue
• 9th Avenue
• 10th Avenue
• 11th Avenue
• 12th Avenue (Highest avenue number in 1955 phone directory)
• Aspen Avenue
• Benlea Avenue
• Beryl Avenue
• Broad Avenue
• Browning Avenue
• Bryan Avenue
• Bueno Avenue
• Charlton Avenue
• Cleveland Avenue
• Coatsville Avenue
• Commonwealth Avenue (East-west)
• Emerson Avenue
• Fayette Avenue
• Harrison Avenue
• Helm Avenue
• Hubbard Avenue
• Hollywood Avenue
• Geltz Avenue
• Kensington Avenue
• Laird Avenue
• Leslie Avenue
• Milton Avenue
• Monroe Avenue
• More Avenue
• North Avenue
• Parkway Avenue (East-west)
• Paxton Avenue
• Ramona Avenue
• Rosewood Avenue
• Sagebrush Avenue
• Sherman Avenue
• Simpson Avenue
• Sunset Avenue
• Sylvan Avenue
• Thornton Avenue
• Valecrest Avenue
• Van Buren Avenue
• Waterfront Avenue
• Westminster Avenue
• Wilbur Avenue
• Wilson Avenue

Highways

• U.S. Route 8
• U.S. Route 295
• U.S. Route 395
• Delgado Highway

Other roads

• N 200 W Sandy and W 200 S Sandy
• S 315 E
• E 325 S
• S 435 E Centerville
• S 1250 W
• S 2300 E
• S 2850 E
• E 2910 S
• E 3205 S
• E 3350 S
• W 3800 S
• W 4500 S
• W 5570 S Kearns
• E 7760 S

Behind the scenes

Upon closer inspection, it appears that Hill Valley's phone book was pulled from or based heavily on Salt Lake City, Utah. See Sandy, Kearns, Emigration Canyon, Centerville, and Riverton, all real suburbs or locations of Salt Lake City. Streets with names like Salt Lake Street and Wasatch Street also reference features in this part of the country.

"Ladies and gentlemen, as mayor of Hill Valley, it gives me great pleasure to dedicate this clock to the people of Hill County. May it stand for all time!"

—Mayor Hubert, September 5, 1885

Marty looks up at the courthouse clock in 1955.

The Hill Valley Courthouse and Clock Tower, also known as the Hill County Courthouse was a structure in Courthouse Square in Hill Valley, California.

Description

Hill Valley Courthouse

The Hill Valley Courthouse and clock tower were of a common construction and architectural style seen across the United States in the 1800s and 1900s. It was composed of red brick, concrete, and white trim. Two black cougar statues flanked the clock. The clock dial used "IV" for the number four, instead of "IIII" which is usually found on clocks with Roman numerals (except for Big Ben in London). On each quarter hour, the clock would chime.

History

The courthouse underwent several changes over the course of its 130-year history. It was first constructed in 1885. On September 3, 1885, it almost experienced its first hanging by Buford Tannen before Dr. Emmett Brown intervened. A ceremony held during the September 5th Hill Valley Festival started the clock at 8:00 pm. It would be completed the following year alongside the Shonash Ravine Bridge project.

From the 1880s until at least the 1950s, the building was the county courthouse with a lush lawn with walking paths that led from the building to the corners of the block.

The courthouse was used as a shelter during the San Francisco Earthquake during 1906.^[1]

Up until some point in 1929, there was a ladder leading up to the top of the Courthouse, but it was removed due to some jumping incidents.^[2]

In 1931 when Emmett was 17 he worked at the courthouse as a junior clerk with his father as the judge at the time. Also before Marty McFly went back to June 13, 1931 to find him while he was in Edna Strickland's apartment he sees a picture of him dead on the steps of the courthouse in a newspaper (while looking for the date that he was stuck in back in the past).

On August 25, 1931, Einstein was stranded on the roof of the Courthouse after riding Emmett's rocket-powered car. He was saved by Doc shortly after.

On October 12, 1931, Emmett was sulking at the top of the Courthouse. After a lightning strike, he got tangled on a rope tied to the statue, only to be saved by Marty. On the night after, Marty would run into Arthur McFly and Trixie Trotter before leaving 1931.

Shortly after discovering Doc's grave in 1955, the duo head to a library containing historical documents which by a large establishing shot, holds a large resemblance to the inside of the courthouse [Back to the Future 3, 15 minutes and 15 seconds in]. The space is fronted by three stories of windows similar to the placement, shape, and style of the windows on the façade of the courthouse. The marble floored atrium is flanked by two wood trimmed stairwells leading to halls on either side. The library sits in the middle. If this is indeed the courthouse, it is one of two times the main interior is shown in the movies [Back to the Future 2, 20 minutes and 58 seconds in].

The clock tower was struck by lightning during an electrical storm on November 12, 1955. This fused the clock's internal mechanism and had stopped the clock at 10:04 pm permanently. Despite efforts trying to repair or replace the damaged clockwork, the Hill Valley Preservation Society kept it in this condition as part of the town's history and heritage. Though the courthouse's lightning rod could provide sufficient electrical grounding to absorb lightning strikes, it had completely severed. Originally, the tower was simply struck by lightning and the clock rendered useless, but after Marty visited 1955, a experiment involving hooking a cable up to the antenna was created by Doc to send Marty back to the future.

Over time, many unsuccessful efforts were put into place to replace the clock tower from the current mayor in office.

In 1985, the Department of Social Services occupied the building, and the lawn had been replaced by a parking lot.

In 1985A, the courthouse had been turned into Biff Tannen's Pleasure Paradise Casino & Hotel, with over twenty-seven floors. This was undone in 1985B after Marty burned the Grays Sports Almanac in 1955 using a matchbook he had taken from the Pleasure Paradise.

In an alternate 1986 where Hill Valley is a repressed dystopia, the clock tower has become Citizen Brown's monument to cold efficiency and order. Marty crashes the DeLorean into a billboard showing Citizen Brown embracing the clock tower. Brown's office is located in the room directly behind the clock face. In this timeline the clock is actually functioning, meaning that in this timeline, First Citizen Brown promptly repaired the damage done by the lightning strike in order to maintain his symbol of efficiency.

 

The new clock tower in 1990.

In 1990, in the revised timeline, a new clock was installed on the Hill Valley Courthouse, despite efforts from the Hill Valley Preservation Society.

 

The 2015 courthouse and its large, futuristic-looking darkened windows form the background of this publicity shot of Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd and Freddie posing with the DeLorean time machine on the set of Back to the Future Part II.

In 2015, in the original timeline, the courthouse had large darkened windows at the front and had become a shopping mall with underground shops with a lush garden and a decorative pond in the courtyard. The clock, however, was still non-functional after sixty years. On October 21, Griff Tannen and his gang were chasing Marty through the town square on hoverboards, believing him to be his future son Marty Jr. They ended up crashing into the building, which resulted in the gang being arrested and thus preventing the robbery that would've put Marty Jr. in jail.

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