Grantville is a fictional town in Marion County, West Virginia that appears in Eric Flint's 1632 series. The American town – including land, people, resources and all – was transported back in time from the year 2000 to the middle of 17th-century Europe in central Germany by irresponsible aliens. Grantville was modeled after the real town of Mannington, West Virginia.
Grantville is based on the town of Mannington, W. Va. and the high school is based on the North Marion High School, which was moved from its position 4 miles outside Farmington to place it inside the Ring Of Fire. Both are in Marion County, W. Va.
Fictional history
In the spring of 2000, a space-time anomaly caused by the Assiti, an alien race of "artists", transports the small mining town of Grantville to central Germany in the middle of the Thirty Years' War. Stranded in the past, the town's citizens decide to live in this new universe and to "Start the American Revolution [In Central Germany] 150 years early", in the words of (soon to be) President of the 'New United States' Mike Stearns in 1631 Europe. In 1632, the "Grantvillers" (called up-timers) first allied with neighboring free towns and cities such as Jena and (fictional) Badenburg to "expand" the 'New United States' systematically as 1631 dragged into 1632, including several early battles to defend allied territory which were pivotal in the rapid growth of the new (radical to 17th century thought) "United States".
Loosely allied with Swedish King Gustavus II Adolphus against the Catholic League led by the day's super powers, Kingdom of Spain and Holy Roman Empire over the winter of 1631–32, and following summer, the up-timers had early on organized a mixed army of down-timer Germans and up-timer and leadership under Michael Stearns to protect the region. While arrangements with Gustav were cordial, they were not close until the up-timers used their influence to arrange favorable financial terms for Gustav to borrow funds for his war aims. Among other things, the New United States had expropriated the Thuringian territories of Gustav's only reliable German princes, the Duke of Saxe-Weimar and his brothers (also styled as Dukes of Saxe-Weimar).
With the rumor of this arrangement, the mere possibility of the alliance of an economically strong NUS with Gustavus caused Cardinal Richelieu to switch his support of the Swedish king in the spring of 1632 and generated a direct battle in Grantville in the fall of 1632 with Croatian cavalry forces sent by Catholic General Albrecht von Wallenstein towards the end of the first book to destroy Grantville and its knowledge base. Gustavus himself, leading a small cavalry scouting group, deduced the pending attack and enemy's plan and led his small force of 400 Laplanders and Finnish light cavalry in a "hell ride" pursuing the enemy cavalry arriving in time annihilating the remaining enemy forces at the town's high school. With the rescue, Stearns recognized the inevitable, the NUS needed a strong protector, and he and Gustav began negotiating an accommodation in the high school library with Rebecca Abrabanel as translator, even as wounded were being triaged and the bodies were being cleared from the hallways and grounds.
The Confederated Principalities of Europe that occasioned at the books end lasted merely a year, ending on the founding of the United States of Europe (October 10, 1633—thereafter "Hans Richter Day" in the German parts of the new empire.) with Stearns as Emperor Gustav's new Prime Minister. Under the new regime, Grantville became the provincial capital of the State of Thuringia-Franconia and the Grantvillers found themselves administering the conquered territory of Franconia as well as their parts of Thuringia—most of which belonged to the Dukes of Saxe-Weimar, including nearby free cities and towns.