The Imaginary Town Of Nilson’s Bay In Wisconsin Is The Star Of A Hallmark Channel Christmas Movie
By Ben Jones|Published December 14, 2022
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Ben Jones
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Ben Jones is at heart an adventurer who delights in inspiring others. A former reporter and photojournalist, he explored towns large and small as a Wisconsin correspondent for USA Today. He later became a lead photographer and senior copywriter for an award-winning destination marketing agency, before founding Boldland Creative, a company that produces photography, video, and other content for travel destinations. Jones has completed photography and content projects in more than 15 states and when he’s not looking through a camera or at his Macbook you’ll find him exploring the world’s lakes and forests.
The Hallmark Channel movie called Christmas Everlasting is set in a location that purports to be in Wisconsin, and it sure looks a lot like the Dairy State. There’s gently falling snow, historic buildings, and plenty of small-town atmosphere. Welcome to Nilson’s Bay, a Wisconsin Hallmark Channel Christmas town that you won’t find on any Wisconsin highway map. It was the location of the 2018 movie, and it’s a place worth visiting, if only in a Hallmark Channel fantasy.
Wisconsin has 190 cities, 410 villages, and 1,250 towns, including many that would be perfect for a Hallmark movie. For example, Ephraim has plenty of steeples and twinkle lights. A charming guy could probably be found there too, hiding in plain sight.
Wisconsin also has a lot of real-life bays – it's home to more than 10,000 lakes and over 800 miles of Great Lakes shoreline. Up in Door County, there’s even a town named Ellison Bay that sounds a little bit like Hallmark's Nilson’s Bay.
But this 2018 movie, which starred Patti LaBelle and Dennis Haysbert, was filmed somewhere – so where exactly were the Hallmark Channel’s cameras pointed?
Try Georgia. Various "Wisconsin" scenes were filmed in Mansfield, pop. 442 and Covington, pop. 14,000. Both of those towns are a short drive from Atlanta, the heart of the state’s film and television production industry.
But what about the snow? The Atlanta area only receives a couple of inches in a typical season, and it has had just one white Christmas since the 1880s.
Enter the fake snow. They used plenty of it in Christmas Everlasting. Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, we have to settle for the real thing. But if the weather is really bad, and the snow is a little too real, we can just hole up inside with a good Hallmark Channel movie!
While Nilson’s Bay may not actually exist, one doesn’t watch the Hallmark Channel to collect documentary evidence. When you sit back and watch Christmas Everlasting, you’ll forget all about the film’s finer details, and if you enjoy a good Hallmark film, you’ll love this movie! Learn more about holiday movies that will get you in the holiday spirit on the Hallmark Channel. And if you feel like doing a little location scouting for the next holiday movie, here are some of the state’s most magical Christmas towns.
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