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Rosewood is a small town located in Pennsylvania. It is also the main setting for all seven seasons of Pretty Little Liars.

It is the hometown of the Liars in the series. Rosewood may be a small town, but it has its own daily newspaper associated with it: The Rosewood Observer. Rosewood is also home to a local community college, Hollis College. Most of the residents seem to be of middle to upper class income range in wages.

History[]

In September 2009, the Rosewood community was shocked by the disappearance and "murder" of popular student Alison DiLaurentis. One and a half years later, another Rosewood student Maya St. Germain was reported missing and was found murdered. Shortly before this discovery, it became known nationwide that a Rosewood student Mona Vanderwaal was cyberbullying a group of four best friends, known to the public as the "Pretty Little Liars".

During 2011, the murders of former police officers Garrett Reynolds and Darren Wilden were seen. Another event that was nationally famous was the trial against Alison DiLaurentis, the "girl who faked her death" and her friends for the alleged murder of Mona Vanderwaal.

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Book Comparisons[]

Main article: Rosewood (Book Location)

  • While the TV show tends to play down the social class of the residents, the books make it clear that Rosewood is an extremely wealthy town. As a Main Line town, it has a long history of prestige associated with the railroad industry of the 1800s. The majority of the residents are in the upper class and many families, such as the Hastings, have had significant wealth dating back to the 1800s.
  • Another big difference from the show is the town's atmosphere. In the novels, Rosewood is essentially a 'country-glam' suburb. It has everything from farms, picturesque cornfields, and pastures to barns converted into apartments and other types of buildings. In fact, many of the mansions were converted from large farms. Many homes are close to woodsy areas. Emily's backyard is bordered by the woods, Spencer and Ali's neighborhood is essentially surrounded by a small forest, and the Kahns' vast property is also bordered by a forest.
  • In the books, The families of Spencer Hastings, Alison DiLaurentis, Toby and Jenna Cavanaugh, and Mona Vanderwaal lived on the same street. The Hastings' stone estate had eight rooms, they also had their own windmill, garage for five well separated cars, a rock-lined pool, and a separate apartment-stable. In addition, the barn was surrounded by the DiLaurentis patio. The DiLaurentis used to live in an impressive giant Victorian mansion on a cul-de-sac and it has rose trellis along the fence and terrace staggered teak at the back. The Cavanaugh family, like the DiLaurentis, lived in a mansion color red with the same style with the big tree on one side, which had once been Toby's tree house. Later, the DiLaurentis mansion was inhabited by the Maya St. Germain's family and the Cavanaugh mansion by Chloe Roland's family. And the Vanderwaal family mansion has a huge six-car garage like Spencer's family and a water feature in the front yard. It is implied that this is the wealthiest neighborhood in Rosewood.
  • In the books, Hanna Marin's house has an elegantly manicured front yard, she also lives in a wealthy neighborhood, in an area that is secluded and wooded, on top of Mount Kale, which was just outside of Rosewood and her home has a long, winding driveway that is difficult for others to navigate.
  • In the books, Emily's house is located in a "modest" middle-class neighborhood with old (but not decrepit) homes. She's one of the few characters who is clearly labeled as a middle-class resident.
  • In the books, Aria's family has lived in different parts of Rosewood. They originally lived in a quirky yet artsy neighborhood in Old Hollis, then they later moved to a home which Aria describes as "a postmodern angry brown box with only one square window." Her family is also middle class.
  • In the books, Ian Thomas only lived one block away from Ali and Spencer's neighborhood; the woods border his neighborhood as well. Aria's father Byron and his partner Meredith later purchase a home on Ian's street.
  • In the books, Noel Kahn's family appears to be one of the wealthiest, if not the wealthiest, families in Rosewood. His family home is a red-brick mansion with a half-mile long driveway, a vast field, a horse farm, and a duck pond. A large woodsy area also surrounds the Kahn's extensive property; over the years, plenty of high school students have had sex there during the Kahns' infamous parties, leading to the apt nickname "Manhood Woods."
  • In the books, Sean Ackard's family home was located on the thick forest and surrounded by at least ten hectares of virgin land. The nearest property, a castle-like monolith with medieval-style towers, so minus three football fields away.
  • Courtney (as Ali) and Spencer often went through the woods between their homes in the middle of the night to talk to each other. By the book's description, the woods surrounding their neighborhood appear to be quite large. It is situated on a very hilly terrain and contains an old well that Courtney loved to visit.
  • Besides its public school, Rosewood has several private institutions as well, one of which is of course Rosewood Day. There's an elementary-middle school branch along with a separate school for secondary education. The high school appears to be very close to the middle school since the prologue of Wicked described the large gathering of younger and older students discussing the announcement of the Time Capsule Flag.
  • Though it's strongly leaning towards the rural end, Rosewood appears to be a fairly large town. The girls all appear to live in different sections of the suburb and the town itself is big enough to have its own shopping center called the King James Mall.
  • In the books, Rosewood was trending in the 2000s for the disappearance of "Alison" DiLaurentis, the tormentor anonymous "A" who terrorized the "Pretty Little Liars", the murder of Ian Thomas, the murder of Jenna Cavanaugh, multiple other homicides orchestrated by the real Alison DiLaurentis. And the infamous news where the "Pretty Little Liars" wrongfully implicated murdered Tabitha Clark in Jamaica, and of course, the infamous Alison DiLaurentis murder trial where the Liars were wrongfully implicated.

Trivia[]

  • It is based off of the real town called Rosemont, PA. Rosewood is located in Pennsylvania, approximately 20 miles outside Philadelphia.
  • The closest towns are Brookhaven, Ravenswood and Millwood. Right outside of Rosewood is Darkette County where Radley Sanitarium is located.
  • Rosewood might be under the ZIP code 19387.
    • Though it is not a ZIP code which legitimately applies to a real-world location, but it is listed on Hanna's arrest report.
  • The population is 7989.
  • Old Hollis is a subsection of Rosewood that is quite different from the rest of the town. Hollis College is located here, and so the culture/atmosphere is a bit more eclectic. Aria notes that "near the college there was a series of rambling, cobblestone streets lined with falling-to-pieces Victorian houses" painted in bright colors like purple and pink. She also notes that these houses are often split into apartments and rented out to Hollis students. There's also a few shabby bars around, where it's not too difficult for a minor to get into.
  • Hollis College is a liberal arts school. The small college appears to be known for the more creative fields such as literature and studio art.
  • Sean Ackard lives in a historical home with his father and stepmother. His stepmom regularly allows the local historical tour company to take tourists through her home, so she always makes a point to keep everything neat and picturesque.
  • Imogen Adams and Tabby Haworthe visit Rosewood while looking for answers at Radley Sanitarium, which was converted into The Radley Hotel.
  • Shots of Rosewood can also be seen in the CW's TV show "The Carrie Diaries".
  • The set that is Rosewood was used for the WB series Gilmore Girls which lasted 7 seasons from 2000 until 2007. Many of the set have been revamped by painting certain buildings.

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