A. Public streets near a town square.

Q. Where is it supposed to be on the show?

A. In Bon Temps, Louisiana.

Q. When did we see it on the show?

A. In Episode 6 of Season One: "Cold Ground", when Jason Stackhouse drives back into town (after his grandma was murdered).

We see his pickup truck drive down the street, make a left turn, then he parks across the street from where Rene & Hoyt are doing road work, near a large, official-looking building.

Not knowing about his Gran's death (and still somewhat under the influence of "V"), Jason is just planning to go to work with the road crew.

As he gets out of his truck, Rene & Hoyt realize that he doesn't yet know yet about the murder. Hoyt tells him he's sorry, and the scene fades...

Q. What is it actually, in real life?

A. Public streets by a town square, but not in the fictional Bon Temps.

Q. Where can I find it in real life?

A. The scene was filmed near the town square in Mansfield, Louisiana, which is about 30 miles south of Shreveport.

When we first see Jason's truck, in real life he is traveling south on N. Washington Avenue (in Mansfield).

He then he makes a left turn from Washington (east) onto Texas Street, and parks on the south side of Texas Street, in front of Ideal Commercial Printing, at 102 Texas St.

The large official-looking building (behind Rene & Hoyt) is the Desoto Parish Courthouse, at 101 Texas St. (It was built in 1911, and is also the County Clerk.)

When Jason gets out of his truck, he walks north across Texas Street to where Rene & Hoyt are working.


 Here is a map link, showing the route & parking location.





Here is the Google StreetView of where Jason parks his truck:







Compare it to this screenshot from the show:




And here's a photo of the same storefronts, shot by Michele & Eleanor in 2009:





Here is the Google StreetView of the courthouse (near where Hoyt & Rene were working):






Compare it to this screenshot from the show:





And here's a photo of the same Courthouse, shot by Eleanor & Michele in 2009:

Q. How the heck did you figure out where it was?

A. I knew that they had filmed in Mansfield, so I used Google StreetView to search for that courthouse building. I found it at the corner of Texas & Washington, and then simply backtracked on the surrounding streets to identify the parking spot and the road where he drove.

I also found these amateur photos of Mansfield online, where it mentions that the storefronts on the south side of Texas Street are mere facades, created for the filming of another Hollywood production: the 2007 Denzel Washington movie, "The Great Debaters".

In 2009, before I had these pages online, Michele & Eleanor planned a "True Blood" tour trip of Louisiana, and emailed me to ask for locations. I was happy to send them, and in return, they were kind enough to send me some of the photos they shot during their vacation. (Thanks, Michelle!  Thanks, Ellie!)