Inside the Sopranos

Fans of The Sopranos TV series on HBO love to identify and visit the places where scenes from the series were filmed. There are many Soprano fan sites dedicated to just this sort of activity. I live right down the road from where one scene allegedly took place and have inside information on why that location was chosen for the scene.

The scene is from episode #22, "From Where to Eternity." Written by Michael Imperioli, it was the ninth episode of the second season and originally aired on March 12, 2000. It has since aired many times on HBO and lately on A&E and is in the box set editions of the series.

In that episode, Pussy is afraid that Tony will find out he has turned informant for the FBI. In order to get Tony to trust him again, Pussy hunts down Matt Bevilaqua. When he gets the information on where Bevilaqua is hiding, Pussy calls Tony on the phone and tells him. This is the line from that scene: "He's way the fuck out near Morristown, in Hacklebarney State Park. Over by that 'George Washington-slept-here' house?"

Pussy and Tony proceed to kill Bevilaqua in an abandoned refreshment stand in Hacklebarney State Park which is in Northwestern New Jersey. After beating the pulp out of Bevilaqua they riddle his body with bullets.

Why was Matt Bevilaqua hiding out and eventually killed in Hacklebarney State Park? It is in a relatively remote location of New Jersey and would be a good place to hide out, but that's not the reason. The real reason has to do with James Gandolfini, the award winning actor who plays Tony Soprano.

Back in 2000, Gandolfini owned a 1700s farmhouse that is right across the street from Hacklebarney State Park. Supposedly George Washington did sleep in that farmhouse. Hence the line, "Over by that 'George Washington-slept-here' house." That's why the scene took place there.

I live right down the street from Hacklebarney and I cannot tell you how many times after that episode ran that people would pull up next to me on my daily run and ask me where Hacklebarney State Park was located. As a goof I started answering, "You mean where Matt Bevilaqua was killed?" Sometimes the people would stare at me and I would have to explain. But many times fans of the series would just smile and laugh and say, "Yeah."

Thousands of Sopranos fans have visited Hacklebarney State Park since the murder of Matt Bevilaqua in episode #22. Now you know why that murder took place in Hacklebarney State Park, over by that "George Washington-slept-here house."

(Gandolfini has since sold the farmhouse. For those fans who love The Sopranos and would like to see it anyway, it is located on Pottersville Road in Chester, N.J., just down the road from the Hacklebarney State Park entrance.)