50 Fun Facts About When Calls the Heart

What do devoted fans of When Calls the Heart call themselves?

Hearties even have their own convention: the annual Hearties Family Reunion near Vancouver, where fans meet the cast and walk the Hope Valley set.

Who plays teacher Elizabeth Thatcher in When Calls the Heart?

Erin Krakow wasn't the first Elizabeth: another actress played the teacher in the 2013 pilot movie, and Krakow took over when the weekly series began in 2014.

Which author's novel inspired When Calls the Heart?

Janette Oke is credited with launching modern inspirational fiction: her frontier romances sold so well that they proved the market existed. The 1983 novel opened her Canadian West series.

Who created When Calls the Heart with Brian Bird?

Michael Landon Jr. directed the 2013 pilot movie and wrote its teleplay, then built the weekly series with Bird and directed its opening episodes.

What does Elizabeth leave behind in When Calls the Heart?

High society: Elizabeth grew up wealthy in Hamilton, and in season two Jack sees first-hand the world she gave up.

What was Hope Valley's original name in When Calls the Heart?

Coal Valley was renamed in season two after the mine closed. In season one its newly widowed women had gone down the mine themselves to avoid eviction from their company homes.

In When Calls the Heart, what is the name of the newspaper Rosemary Coulter founds?

The Valley Voice makes Rosemary the town's editor, and by season nine she has recruited her husband Lee, who writes its editorials.

What is Jack Thornton's job in When Calls the Heart?

Mountie duty kept pulling Jack away: he proposed to Elizabeth just before leaving on a dangerous mission to the Northern Territories, so they spent most of their engagement apart.

Who played Jack Thornton in When Calls the Heart?

Daniel Lissing chose to leave after five seasons, so the writers killed Jack off-screen. The Australian actor still returned to the role in 2021, appearing in a dream sequence in a Christmas special.

In When Calls the Heart, what does Elizabeth discover soon after Jack Thornton's funeral?

She is pregnant: Abigail spots the signs, and the son Elizabeth names Jack after his father is born in the 2018 Christmas special.

Which actress played Abigail Stanton in When Calls the Heart?

Lori Loughlin's Abigail began as a widow of the mine explosion, opened the town café, and by season four was serving as Hope Valley's mayor.

Which scandal caused When Calls the Heart's 2019 hiatus during season six?

Varsity Blues college admissions charges against a lead actress made Hallmark cut ties with her within days. The show vanished for weeks and returned that May with her scenes edited out.

How was Abigail written out of When Calls the Heart?

She went back east to nurse her sick mother, taking her adopted son Cody along. The actress had been dropped, so the exit happens off-screen: Elizabeth simply explains it in a letter.

In When Calls the Heart, what does Henry Gowen strike in season six, sparking jealousy in Hope Valley?

Oil gives the town's fallen boss a second act: he founds Gowen Petroleum, and newcomer Lucas Bouchard later fights to keep his partnership in it.

Who plays businessman Lucas Bouchard in When Calls the Heart?

Chris McNally joined in season six as a secretive newcomer who buys the town saloon. Locals wondered what he was hiding, yet he ended up engaged to Elizabeth.

Who plays Nathan Grant in When Calls the Heart?

Kevin McGarry's Nathan hides a painful secret for years: Jack Thornton was sent on the fatal training mission in his place.

In When Calls the Heart, Lucas Bouchard donates a building so Elizabeth can open what?

A public library was a charm offensive: Lucas set it up in season six to stay on Elizabeth's good side.

In When Calls the Heart, what do Hope Valley's children discover that turns the town into a tourist draw?

Hot springs: the town names the find Hope Springs, and so many tourists arrive that the children who discovered it start to feel left out.

In When Calls the Heart, what reason does Elizabeth give Lucas for ending their engagement?

She won't move to the capital: her whole life is in Hope Valley, she tells him as he leaves to campaign. Lucas sees her heart isn't in it, and they part as friends.

What office does Lucas Bouchard win in When Calls the Heart?

Governor was never Lucas's ambition: he ran only to stop the sitting governor's scheme against Hope Valley, and he won by a narrow margin.

In When Calls the Heart, whom does Elizabeth's naive younger sister Julie unknowingly nurse back to health?

A wanted outlaw: Julie falls for Nate while tending his wounds in season one, and even gives him directions to the cabin where his loot is stashed.

What is the name of Nathan Grant's niece in When Calls the Heart?

Allie arrives in Hope Valley in her uncle's care, and in season eight Nathan makes it official by finalizing her adoption.

Who plays flamboyant actress Rosemary in When Calls the Heart?

Pascale Hutton's Rosemary arrives as Jack's ex-fiancée, the engagement long since called off. She stays in town anyway and ends up marrying Lee Coulter instead.

In When Calls the Heart, what business does Lee Coulter open in Hope Valley?

A sawmill made Lee a target: after he refused to partner with Mayor Gowen, the mill was sabotaged, and the mayor topped the list of suspects.

Who plays sheriff-turned-judge Bill Avery in When Calls the Heart?

Jack Wagner got an unusual scene partner in season two: his real-life ex-wife Kristina Wagner was cast as Bill's estranged wife, Nora.

In When Calls the Heart, Mayor Henry Gowen is arrested for what crime?

Stealing town funds while he was mayor landed Gowen in jail. Abigail, who replaced him in office, then testified on his behalf to win him a second chance.

What is Faith Carter's profession in When Calls the Heart?

Nurse, later doctor: she spends season seven deciding whether to apply to medical school, leaves to study, and arrives back in the season eight premiere.

Why does Carson Shepherd leave Hope Valley in When Calls the Heart?

To join a large hospital: the offer arrives in season eight as the opportunity of a lifetime, and it puts his romance with Faith to the test before the town gathers to say goodbye.

In When Calls the Heart, Joseph Canfield arrives as a delivery driver and becomes what?

The pastor: the Canfields arrive in season eight, buy Henry Gowen's old cabin, and Joseph ends up leading Hope Valley's church.

In When Calls the Heart, Fiona Miller opens what business in Hope Valley?

A barbershop is her season eight venture. Fiona first came from San Francisco as a telephone operator, and she later leaves town to join the suffragettes.

In When Calls the Heart, young Opal Weise always carries a teddy bear with what name?

Brownie goes wherever Opal goes. In season four Elizabeth minds the little girl for a few days while her parents are away, and gets an early lesson in motherhood.

Who plays Jack's mother, Charlotte Thornton, in When Calls the Heart?

Brooke Shields's Charlotte turns up unannounced in season three and finds little in common with Elizabeth, until their shared fear for Jack during a rescue brings the two together.

Which Little House on the Prairie star guests as Georgie McGill in When Calls the Heart?

Melissa Gilbert's Georgie shares a surprising past with Bill Avery and helps him question a suspect in season 12. She returned for season 13, where Hallmark says her storyline concluded.

Who played Circuit Judge Jedidiah Black in season one of When Calls the Heart?

James Brolin's judge was billed as insolent, insufferable and incorruptible. He arrives in the season one finale to bring justice over the mine explosion.

Where was When Calls the Heart originally planned to be filmed?

Colorado was where the network first announced it would shoot, but Hope Valley instead stands on a family farm in Langley, south of Vancouver.

Some set trimmings and a stagecoach for When Calls the Heart came from which other series?

Hell on Wheels, a far rougher western shot around Calgary, passed along trimmings and a stagecoach to dress this wholesome frontier town.

In When Calls the Heart, who surprises the town by winning Hope Valley's mayoral election in season nine?

Mike Hickam's win surprises everyone. As mayor he launches Hope Valley Days, a festival meant to bring the town back to its hopeful, joyous roots.

In When Calls the Heart, how does Jack Thornton die at the end of season five?

In a landslide, while away on an assignment with a group of recruits. He had written Elizabeth a letter to be read only if he never came home.

Which Canadian network rebroadcast When Calls the Heart's first season as a summer series in 2015?

CBC picked it up as an acquisition more than a year after it launched on Hallmark in the United States, although the drama is filmed in British Columbia.

What is the name of the 2019 When Calls the Heart spin-off about two orphaned sisters?

When Hope Calls launched in August 2019 as the first original series on the Hallmark Movies Now streaming service. Its sisters had first appeared in a When Calls the Heart Christmas special.

In the When Calls the Heart spin-off, in which town do sisters Lillian and Grace open their orphanage?

Brookfield is where the sisters, separated as small children, reunite as adults in 1916 and set out to create the family they always longed for.

Where did the When Calls the Heart prequel Hope Valley: 1874 premiere in 2026?

Hallmark+ launched the prequel on March 21, 2026, as a streaming exclusive rather than on the cable channel. Bethany Joy Lenz leads a story set among the town's first settlers.

In When Calls the Heart, what is the name of Nathan Grant's horse?

Newton is badly spooked after a fleeing car hits him and Nathan in season nine. Elizabeth offers to help, but it is newcomer Mei Sou who connects with the horse.

Which When Calls the Heart co-star did the show's lead actress marry in 2025?

Ben Rosenbaum and the show's star surprised fans in June 2025 by announcing on Instagram that they had already tied the knot.

The lead actress of When Calls the Heart studied drama at which New York school?

Juilliard trained her classically, yet before the frontier schoolroom she wore army uniform as Specialist Tanya Gabriel on Lifetime's Army Wives.

Which actress played the young teacher Elizabeth Thatcher in the 2013 When Calls the Heart pilot movie?

Poppy Drayton played her in the 2013 pilot movie, alongside Maggie Grace as her namesake aunt. The part was recast when the weekly series began in 2014.

What was the first novel, published in 1979, by the author whose books inspired When Calls the Heart?

Love Comes Softly launched an eight-book series, which Hallmark Channel began adapting in 2003 with Katherine Heigl in the lead.

In which Canadian province was the novelist behind When Calls the Heart born?

Alberta's prairie gave her a log-house birth and a one-room country school, the upbringing she later poured into her pioneer stories.

Which network aired the 2021 Christmas special in which When Calls the Heart's Jack Thornton returned for a cameo?

GAC Family had just taken over the show's spin-off from Hallmark and opened it with a Christmas special. Jack appears in it to an old Hope Valley friend in a dream.

Before When Calls the Heart, the actor who plays Jack Thornton was firefighter Dave Elder in which Australian soap?

Home and Away gave him only a 2006 guest stint. ABC later cancelled his American navy drama Last Resort after 13 episodes, and a year on he was starring in When Calls the Heart.