I don’t think places exactly like Hooterville or Petticoat Junction ever really existed anywhere. The closest I’ve seen is some of the small towns in West Virginia when I lived there. (TV time could be describing the town in W.Va. where I lived). I’ve lived in both upstate New York and New Hampshire, but I’ve never seen any towns in New York that remind me much of TV’s version of small-town life. There are a few Mayberry-like towns in northern New Hampshire. (Lancaster comes to mind, but I can’t say for sure what it’s really like, since I’ve only been there once). Much of southern New Hampshire is a lot like Delaware: crowded, congested and over-developed.
Green Acres (1965-71), Petticoat Junction (1963-70), and the Beverly Hillbillies (1962-1971) definitely inhabited the same fictional universe. Frank Cady played Sam Drucker in all three series. But I never thought that Petticoat Junction and Hooterville might be near the Clampets’ original home. It just never occurred to me.
I recall one episode of either Petticoat Junction or Green Acres with Max Baer (as Jethro Bodine from the Beverly Hillbillies) guest starring. There was a phone conversation where one character was trying to give directions to get from Beverly Hills to Hooterville. The only part I remember is that you have to cross the Grand Canyon.
The Beverly Hillbillies were from Arkansas, you say? Could be. There are minor petroleum deposits in SW Arkansas. The only clue I definitely remember is that Granny grew up in Tennessee. My mother was always convinced they were from West Virginia, and I figured Tennessee (minor petroleum deposits in both states).