TV SERIES · 2003– · USA
One Tree Hill
24 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
24 Interesting Facts About One Tree Hill
Interesting Facts (21)
- #001
Chad Michael Murray was the first actor cast in the series, but creator Mark Schwahn, having previously seen him in villain roles, actually wanted him to play Nathan. Murray himself wanted to play Lucas, however, because he had experienced abandonment as a child and felt the character had a backstory he could connect with more.
- #002
On November 13, 2017, Hilarie Burton announced via her Twitter account that she had left the series after six seasons because of sexual and emotional abuse by series creator Mark Schwahn. The reason she did not return for the final season was also revealed.
- #003
All of the episodes are named after song or album titles. Artists whose album or song titles are used as episode titles sometimes appear on the soundtrack, but not always.
- #004
Peyton's web address, punkndisorderly.com, redirected to a real page featuring her art and a webcam.
- #005
Moira Kelly was pregnant during the first season, so Karen was sent to a chef's school in Italy.
- #006
Music was such a big part of the series that the fictional club Tric was introduced in season 2 so the writers could feature more bands and artists.
- #007
When Jamie was first written into the series, many of his scenes were determined by what Jackson Brundage wanted to do. He would tell Mark Schwahn that he wanted to eat ice cream, and he ate ice cream in almost every scene. He later wanted to act alongside Antwon Tanner, who played Antwon "Skills" Taylor, so Schwahn wrote stories for them.
- #008
At the end of the series, Bethany Joy Lenz took home the copy of the Julius Caesar book that appeared in the first episode.
- #009
The frequently mentioned ravenshoops.com was a real website created by Mouth for the fictional Ravens team of Tree Hill High School.
- #010
Gavin DeGraw, who did not have the theme song throughout the entire fifth season, makes a cameo in the season finale and sings the theme song at the piano with Jamie in the first scene.
- #011
Brooke Davis was named after Sophia Bush's college roommate.
- #012
The series was originally set in Illinois, but the WB asked Mark Schwahn to set the show in a warmer climate, and so it was set in North Carolina.
- #013
At the end of episode 22 of season 8, they show Jamie bouncing a basketball down the bridge wearing a gray Keith Scott car dealership sweatshirt, just as Lucas Scott did in the first episode and in the theme song.
- #014
James Lafferty kept the Raven jersey he wore in the pilot and the NS23 shoes from the set.
- #015
The name "One Tree Hill" was taken from a U2 song of the same name. Creator Mark Schwahn was listening to U2's album 'The Joshua Tree.' When the song "One Tree Hill" came on, he decided to make it the title. (The song's name comes from One Tree Hill, a volcanic cone located in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city. The tree was removed in 2000 after being attacked in 1994, but a plaque is present there and the location is still known as One Tree Hill, or more recently by its Maori name: Maungakiekie.)
- #016
Speaking about casting the role of Peyton, 'Mark Schwann (I)' said: "They asked me why I wanted Hilarie Burton Morgan, and my answer was: 'There's so much pain in her eyes. And I want that pain to be in Peyton's eyes.' We always laugh about it because Hilarie says: 'It's a good thing so many bad things happened to me in my life.'".
- #017
The court where the Tree Hill basketball games were filmed is the same court Michael Jordan played on when he was in school.
- #018
Lisa Goldstein Kirsch (Millicent) was supposed to appear in only one episode. However, she eventually returned and became part of the main cast starting from the sixth season.
- #019
The Rivercourt used throughout the entire series was removed after One Tree Hill ended.
- #020
It was one of the few shows in television history to jump its timeline into the future. Between seasons 4 and 5, they jumped 4 1/2 years ahead. Among the other few series to do this are Alias (2001), which jumped two years ahead at the end of its second season, and Wonder Woman (1975), which jumped from the 1940s to the 1970s after its first season.
- #021
One Tree Hill day is September 23, the day the series first aired.
Production Story (1)
- #022
The series was initially going to be made as a TV movie titled "Ravens." However, when the network decided there were enough good ideas in the concept to turn it into a full series, the title was changed to "One Tree Hill." In later episodes of the series, Lucas writes a book titled "An Unkindness of Ravens" that was to be turned into a film. That film idea was also cancelled, and at the end of the series Julian was about to turn "An Unkindness of Ravens" into a TV series.
Characters & Cast (1)
- #023
Since the beginning of One Tree Hill, James Lafferty and the series' cast and crew have organized a basketball game near the end of each season to benefit various charities. Alongside these charity games, One Tree Hill also hosted the Hurricane Katrina Relief Softball Game, and late in the second season members of the series hosted a charity football game as well. At all the charity events, most of the cast and crew split into two teams to play, and the proceeds from each game went to different charities.
Deeper Meaning (1)
- #024
Mark Schwahn was inspired to write the school shooting story after hearing someone talk about Columbine and whisper its name. He felt that someone needed to "say something out loud" about the tragedy.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- IMDb
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work