Mystic Falls, Virginia, does not exist. The pilot was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia; from the second episode on, the production worked in Covington, Georgia, and other communities around Atlanta.
Covington's town square, with the 1884 Newton County Courthouse and its clock tower, is the centre of Mystic Falls on screen. A building on Clark Street served as the Mystic Grill; it caught fire on the morning of 10 May 2012.
The move to Georgia followed the state's film tax incentives, which drew many productions to the Atlanta area in those years.