Port Charles (fictional city)

Port Charles, New York
Skyline as seen in the General Hospital: Night Shift opening. Notable in the skyline are General Hospital, ELQ, and the Metro Court Hotel
General Hospital The Young Marrieds Port Charles General Hospital: Night Shift location
Creator	Frank and Doris Hursley
Genre	Soap opera
Type	City
Notable locations	General Hospital The Metro Court Hotel The Haunted Star Wyndemere Castle Kelly's Diner Jake's
Notable characters	The Quartermaines The Cassadines The Corinthos family The Spencers The Scorpios The Hardys

Port Charles, New York is the fictional setting of the ABC Daytime soap operas General Hospital, and its now cancelled spin-off Port Charles. Port Charles is also the setting for SOAPnet's primetime GH spin-off, General Hospital: Night Shift. Port Charles can also be retroactively considered as the setting of The Young Marrieds, a short-lived series which ran between 1964 and 1966.

Location

Port Charles is a fictional midsize city (likely the approximate size of Buffalo) located in Western New York, most likely on the shores of Lake Ontario between the Buffalo–Niagara Falls and Syracuse areas. In 1993, the producers of General Hospital filmed several exterior locations in and around the Western New York area, including Letchworth State Park and the village of Perry, New York. Aerial photos of Port Charles occasionally shown on the air are actually shots of the skyline of downtown Rochester.

Within the fictional universe of General Hospital, the city of Port Charles co-exists with the real cities of Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and Rochester. Events in the series indicate that Port Charles is located relatively close to all of these locations. It is depicted as a city which would likely constitute a separate metro area, although by its description and purported location relative to Buffalo and Syracuse it would have to be a thinly disguised version of Rochester itself. During several episodes aired in 1996, the characters of Laura Spencer and Stefan Cassadine traveled to a house in Rochester to find Laura's long-presumed dead mother Lesley Webber. The episodes in which this occurred suggested that Port Charles was a short driving distance from Rochester, though no actual distance was given. However, when Luke and Laura Spencer returned to General Hospital they made a dramatic entrance at Niagara Falls. There is also the incident in when Robin Scorpio was suffering from post-partum depression in 2009 and skipped out on a dinner date with her husband, Patrick Drake and drove to Rochester,where she remained for a day or two, also proving it is a short driving distance from Port Charles.

To be separate from but proximate to both Rochester and Buffalo, and located on a body of water (as the "Port" in the name would indicate), Port Charles would likely be located on Lake Ontario north of the city of Batavia. The name of the town of Carlton, New York is formed from a variant of Charles.

The city's zip code is noted as 16543.^[1][2]

Tri-State Area

• Greenfield - an outlying county in Port Charles.
• Pine Barrens - a heavily forested township outside of Port Charles. Claudia Zacchara was killed and buried here.
• Pine Valley, Pennsylvania - before moving to Llanview, then to Port Charles, Skye Chandler lived in Pine Valley; home of All My Children.

• Duke Lavery's relative Ryan Lavery lives in Pine Valley.
• Anna Devane and Robin Scorpio's relative Aidan Devane lived in Pine Valley.

• Llanview, Pennsylvania - when Skye Chandler left Pine Valley in 2001 to seek her biological father, she moved to Llanview; home of One Life to Live.

• In 1968, Dr. Steve Hardy traveled to Llanview to consult with doctors concerning Meredith Lord Wolek's rare blood disease.
• In 1992, Marco Dane moved from Llanview to Port Charles, but left the following year.

• New York, New York - in 1996, Tracy Quartermaine and her son Dillon moved to the SoHo district in New York City to escape Dillon's father, Paul Hornsby; home of The City.

History

When the series first began, General Hospital was set in an unnamed city or town somewhere in the United States of America. Between 1964 and 1966, Queen's Point, the setting of the short-lived soap opera, The Young Marrieds, was considered to be a suburb of the same (then still unnamed) city that General Hospital was set in (this was part of a plan to feature regular crossovers between the two shows which never materialized due to the cancellation of The Young Marrieds). It wasn't until 1977 that the General Hospital's setting was finally established as being in the fictional city of Port Charles, New York.

Onscreen, Port Charles has had somewhat of an eclectic history. A 1993 storyline saw Lucky Spencer hiding out in catacombs while hiding from Frank Smith. Lucky's cousin Sly Eckert explained to Lucky that the catacombs were built to divert water for the extensive milling industry of early Port Charles. The catacombs were again referenced in 1997 when Sonny Corinthos and Brenda Barrett were trapped there. The catacombs were run under the Asian Quarter of the city in a 1985 storyline where Frisco Jones, Sean Donely and Suki were hiding from evil mastermind Wu.

In 2002, an episode of General Hospital depicted the recollections of an elderly woman (played by Gloria Stuart), whose mobster husband Marco ran a speakeasy during the prohibition era, thus establishing that the mob has long had ties to the city. Racial discrimination has unfortunately played a part in the history of Port Charles.

A 1985 storyline revealed that at some point in the city's history, a large ghetto area known as the Asian Quarter was built in order to house the city's Asian population, while a 1994 storyline revealed that one of the city's first African-American council members, Bradley Ward II faced opposition from his white counterparts in the 1970s and was later murdered. This storyline also made references to people being refused housing and bank loans on account of race.

Port Charles suffered a hurricane in 1977, but quickly recovered from both that and the Lassa Fever epidemic that followed less than two years later, thus beginning a long tradition of disasters that have plagued the city right up to the modern day. During this time, Mob storylines began being incorporated into the show. In 1979, residents became concerned that Port Charles was being taken over by organized crime. Mob leader Frank Smith was arrested in 1980, thanks to the efforts of Luke and Laura Spencer.

In 1981, Luke and Laura saved the city from being frozen over by Mikkos Cassadine's weather machine. Luke and Laura were hailed as heroes and their wedding was the social event of the year. Robert Scorpio was quickly appointed as police commissioner. Luke ran and won for mayor, but resigned less than two months later after growing tired of the office.

In 1985, Robert, along with Frisco Jones, Felicia Cummings, Sean Donely helped bust an extortion ring that was operating within the city's Asian Quarter. Soon afterwards, Robert left town, and his ex-wife Anna Devane was appointed as the new police commissioner in his place. In a storyline twist, the seemingly honest Police chief Burt Ramsey was apparently so embittered at being passed over for promotion in favor of Anna that he became a dirty cop and began operating a money laundering scam known as Operation Tumble Dry. Thanks to the efforts of Anna and a newly returned Robert, the money laundering scam was busted.

Soon, another crime family, the Jeromes, began to infiltrate the city of Port Charles but by the early 1990s, the influence of the Jeromes had somewhat faded due to the efforts of Robert and Anna. In 1992, Anna and Robert were presumed dead in an explosion. Luke and Laura returned to town, and the Smith Mob began to regroup and once again terrorized the citizens of Port Charles. However, Frank Smith was killed and a much more benevolent crime boss in the form of Sonny Corinthos took over organized crime in the city.

Environmental issues also became a concern as some of the residents of Port Charles formed the Greenbelts organization and protested against the arrival of the S.S Tracy, a ship carrying toxic materials that later sank in the Port Charles Harbor, nearly causing an environmental catastrophe. In 1994, Justus Ward and Laura Spencer led protests against a planned incinerator that was to be located in close proximity to the cities' predominantly ethnic neighborhoods. They were successful in stopping the project despite threats to Laura's life and that of her family.

In 1996, the Cassadine family returned to Port Charles as the main nemesis of the Spencers for a second time. Soon, Port Charles was on the brink of financial disaster when the city's biggest employer, the local hospital, went bankrupt. The hospital (and indirectly the town) was saved from considerable financial ruin at the last minute by a considerable financial investment from Stefan Cassadine, son of Mikkos. Luke claimed that Stefan only wished to continue the nefarious deeds carried out by his father and had in fact been behind the hospital's bankruptcy so he could perform a swift takeover in order to establish himself as a pillar of the community, though not many people believed Luke at the time. Stefan died in disgrace years later.

In the 21st century, Port Charles would be hit by a number of disasters, including the Port Charles Hotel completely gutted by fire in 2004, another hurricane hitting the city and a two-way train wreck in 2005, a hospital quarantine after a mutant strain of encephalitis spread through the town in 2006, Metro Court Hotel being taken hostage, and Anthony Zacchara terrorizing residents at Nikolas Cassadine and Emily Quartermaine”s Black and White Ball in 2007, and The General Hospital poison epidemic and the carnival from hell in 2009. In 2010, a new character named Franco was introduced, who is an artist and a serial killer. He kidnapped Carly Jacks, Sam McCall, and Lulu Spencer. In July, he kidnapped newborn baby Aiden Cassadine, as part of his plan to draw out Jason Morgan.

Elements

Areas

The Point

The Point is a high vantage point that sits steeply in the woods of Port Charles. It has been the sight of several romantic outings, a place for quiet introspection, and the scene of several accidents involving cars falling or nearly falling into the lake below. Also referred to as Lookout Point and Vista Point, it is located on the same road as Shadybrook Sanitarium, and meets Harbor View Road and Old Bluff Road at a three-way intersection. It may correspond to Rochester's real-life Pinnacle Hill, a high point at the southern end of the city, or to nearby Cobb's Hill.

Spoon Island

Spoon Island is the location of Wyndemere Castle, the Cassadine family home. The castle contains many secret passages and underground tunnels, making it an easy target for intruders, and is located above several cliffs. The mansion and surrounding island have been the location of the murders of Katherine Bell, Summer Holloway, and Emily Quartermaine. Though the Cassadines own the castle, Jasper Jacks was able to buy significant portions of the island out from under them.

Queen's Point

Queen's Point was the setting of The Young Marrieds, and was retroactively revealed to be a suburb of Port Charles. Currently Robin and Patrick Drake make their home there, as does Elizabeth Webber and her sons.

The Waterfront

As its name suggests, Port Charles is a major port. The waterfront district has been under the control of Sonny Corinthos for over a decade, though rival gangs have tried to move in on his territory. Courtney Matthews became a brief owner of the property later selling it to Ric Lansing, who later turned it over to Skye Quartermaine who owns it today. Kelly's Diner, a local eatery, is located in this area and the Elm Street Pier is also located here. The Pier is notable for being the place where Luke Spencer grew up, and his sister Bobbie Spencer owns a restored brownstone here, which has been the home of several characters. This is also where the launch for Spoon Island is located and is a favorite meeting place for residents of Port Charles.

Businesses

ELQ Industries

ELQ Industries, or Edward Louis Quartermaine Industries, is a multinational conglomerate headquartered in Port Charles. Formerly Owned by the wealthy Quartermaine family, it is one of the largest businesses in the region. Edward Quartermaine was the sole owner, and other shareholders have included Emily Quartermaine, Lorenzo Alcazar, Tracy Quartermaine, Dillon Quartermaine, Alan Quartermaine, Monica Quartermaine, AJ Quartermaine, Jason Morgan, Justus Ward, and Jasper Jacks. Some draw an analogy to Eastman Kodak Corporation, although no descendant of founder George Eastman survived to direct that real-life firm. The Quartermaine's lost control of ELQ in 2006 when Carly Corinthos was made Chairperson after being given the companies majority shares by Lorenzo Alcazar.

The Haunted Star

This ship was a wedding gift to Luke Spencer and Laura Spencer. Luke sold it in early 1983 but reacquired it in December 2003. Today, Luke's name remains on the deed, and it now serves as a casino he runs with his wife Tracy Quartermaine. Luke's previous partners in the casino also include, Faith Rosco and Skye Quartermaine. Luke's children Ethan Lovett and Lulu Spencer are current employees, and Luke is currently living in a private suite on board.

Metro Court Hotel

The Metro Court Hotel was built by businessman Jasper Jacks on the site where the Port Charles Hotel once occupied until it was destroyed in a February 2004 fire. The Hotel was named after Courtney Matthews, who was engaged to Jax at the time. The Metro Court is home to many businesses and people, including Crimson, the fashion magazine co-owned by Kate Howard and Jax. Several characters were taken hostage by in the hotel lobby by Jerry Jacks, and Alan Quartermaine died from a heart attack following the ordeal. The address (stated when the Port Charles Hotel stood there) is 1420 Courts Lane. The hotel is currently owned by Jasper Jacks and his wife Carly Corinthos Jacks.

Wyndham's Department Store

Wyndham's is the local department store. While on the run from the mob in 1980, Luke Spencer and Laura Baldwin spent a romantic night hiding out in Wyndham's, donning fancy formal wear and dancing to the song Fascination coming over the store's Musak system.

Government agencies

The Port Charles Police Department

The local police department has long been an ineffectual tool against the growing mafia presence in Port Charles. Headed by commissioner Mac Scorpio, it also employs Lucky Spencer, Cruz Rodriguez, Dante Falconeri and Ronnie Dimestico.

The Port Charles Courthouse

The Port Charles Courthouse is located in the heart of downtown, apparently very close to the police department. It consists of courtrooms and the offices of former district attorneys Alexis Davis, Scott Baldwin, and Ric Lansing.

Port Charles Park

The Port Charles park is a popular hangout spot, though can be dangerous at times. Elizabeth Webber was raped here, while Michael and Morgan Corinthos were kidnapped by Faith Rosco, Jake Spencer was kidnapped by Maureen Harper, and Georgie Jones was strangled by the Text Message Killer. Maxie Jones was attacked and knocked out there in November 2008.

Health care

General Hospital

General Hospital is a major employer in the city. General Hospital is the current workplace of many PC residents including Monica Quartermaine, Patrick Drake, Robin Scorpio, Elizabeth Webber, and several others. Privately funded projects include the Dominique Baldwin Pediatric AIDS wing, Stone Cates Memorial AIDS wing, and the Michael Corinthos III Pediatric Head Trauma Wing.

The exterior shots of the hospital are images of an actual building, the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, located just miles from the show's Los Angeles studio.

Shadybrook Sanitarium

Shadybrook is a psychiatric facility located just outside of Port Charles. Lainey Winters has an office in the building, and it was home to Laura Spencer after her 2002 breakdown, followed by a slip into catatonia. Shadybrook is on the same road as Lookout Point.

Residences

Greystone Manor

This is the large estate owned by Sonny Corinthos as his private residence. Not visible from the road, it is guarded by Sonny's men. In 2007, Kate Howard built her house right next door to Sonny's home. Sonny's private maid and cook is named Graciella. The address is 120 Harbor View Road, and Kate Howard's is 124 Harbor View Road.

Harborview Towers

This is an upper end apartment complex in downtown Port Charles, that includes Jason Morgan's penthouse he shares with Damian Spinelli, and was the previous residence of Carly Jacks, Samantha McCall, and mob boss Sonny Corinthos. In a 2008, it was indicated that the Metro Court was located directly across from the Harborview Towers. The address is 122 Harbor View Drive.

Quartermaine Mansion

The home of the wealthy Quartermaine family, Monica Quartermaine is the current owner after receiving the mansion as a gift from her husband Alan Quartermaine. Prone to throwing family members out of the house, Monica also allows the family maid Alice Gunderson and chef Virgina Cooke, known as "Cook", to reside there as well. The mansion also features a boathouse and guesthouse, and the address is 66 Harbor View Road.^[3]

Restaurants and bars

Jake's

Jake's is a popular bar owned and operated by Coleman, though it was originally operated by a woman named Jake (played by Stella Stevens). Carly Corinthos Jacks first met her best friend Jason Morgan here, and the bar is the preferred night time hangout for both hospital staff and local criminals.

Kelly's Diner

This waterfront diner and boarding house was originally owned and operated by Rose Kelly, whose late husband Paddy, had been killed by the Mob. Many residents have both worked and/or lived here over the years. When Rose left town in 1984, Ruby Anderson stepped in as owner until her death in 1999. Ruby left the diner to her niece and nephew Bobbie and Luke Spencer, who have turned the daily operations over to Mike Corbin.

The No Name/Pozzulo's

The No Name is an Italian restaurant located on the west end of Port Charles. It was first frequented by members of the mafia in the 1990s. After the former owner died in 2009, Sonny Corinthos purchased the building and opened an office there.

Vaughn's

This is a local strip club in downtown Port Charles. Resident Abby Haver formerly worked there as an exotic dancer. Johnny Zacchara is a principal silent partner in the club.

Notable former elements

Businesses

Several business in Port Charles have either closed or faded from being featured prominently. These include The Croydon Hotel, Donely Shipping, The Emily Bowen Quartermaine Clinic, The Equinox Corporation, L&B Records, The Port Charles Hotel, and an office for the World Spy Bureau. Deception Cosmetics, run by Laura Spencer and Carly Corinthos, was competitive with Jacks Cosmetics, run by Lucy Coe. L&B Records was founded by future spouses Lois Cerullo and Ned Ashton with their friend Brenda Barrett, while Sonny Corinthos owned a coffee shop that served as a front for his criminal enterprises. The Ward House was an orphanage started by Mary Mae Ward, but was destroyed by Damian Smith who wanted the land to build a toxic waste incinerator.

Neighborhoods

The Asian Quarter is a ghetto district that is home to a large Asian population. The residents lived in fear of an extortion ring that dominated the area, but former police commissioner Robert Scorpio shut them down. The Fisherman Village was a waterfront development constructed by mobsters in the "Tumble Dry" money laundering scam. Dan Rooney attempted to shut it down, but was silenced by a mafia hit.

Restaurants and bars

Several restaurants and bars have been featured in the past. These include the Bamboo Bar, Barney's Place, The Cellar, Club 101, Delafield's, Duke's Club, The Floating Rib, Luke's Club, Luke's Place, The Oasis, The Outback, The Recovery Room, and Tea House. The Campus Disco was an establishment run by Luke Spencer from 1979–1980, and is known as being the place Luke raped his future wife Laura Spencer. The Paradise Lounge was a strip club closed for hiring underage strippers. It was the first business Sonny Corinthos owned in Port Charles.

Port Charles society

The Nurses Ball

From 1994 - 2001, the Nurses Ball was the social event of the year in the Port Charles calendar and is most notable for being a charity event dedicated to raising funds for various HIV/AIDS organizations, both on the show and in reality. The Nurses Ball was held in the Port Charles Hotel (which burned down in 2004). Notably from 1997 until the last ball in 2001, the Nurses ball was usually a major crossover where characters from both Port Charles and General Hospital got a chance to interact with one another. A train/bus collision interrupted the 2001 event. The event has since been discontinued. The onscreen reasons for this have not been explained, but it is known that rising expenses and budget cuts in the real world, along with the revamp that was made to Port Charles in 2001 were the reasons why the producers of both General Hospital and Port Charles decided to end the annual event. But in 2006, Carly Corinthos held a similar event in which she auctioned off men to have dinner with women, and all of the money was donated to the hospital.

General Hospital Pediatric Ward Christmas party

For many years, the Pediatric Ward Christmas party has been the focus of General Hospital episodes that have aired just before Christmas (usually on the December 24 episode of General Hospital, but sometimes on December 23 or December 22 if December 24 falls during a weekend). It is traditional for the current chief of staff to read the Christmas story to the children during the party. The chief is also accompanied by the General Hospital volunteers dressed up as Mr. and Mrs. Claus, as well as elves. The children of various cast members from the show are often featured as extras in the party scenes playing the sick children from the ward.

Notable families

The Webbers and Hardys

Steve Hardy was the chief of Staff at General Hospital from the mid 1970s until his death in 1996. Perhaps one of Dr Hardy's biggest achievements was finding a cure to the Lassa Fever epidemic of 1979. He was married to Audrey Hardy for many years, and adopted her son Tom Hardy, who would also become a doctor. His other son, Jeff Webber, is a doctor as well. Jeff's eldest children, Steven and Sarah, are also doctors, while his youngest daughter, Elizabeth, is a nurse. Elizabeth has three children, Cameron Spencer, Jake Spencer (deceased), and Aiden Spencer. Aiden was believed to be the child of Nikolas Cassadine, but in the summer of 2011, it was revealed that Aiden's real father is Lucky Spencer.

The Quartermaines

Edward Quartermaine is the patriarch of one of Port Charles' wealthiest families, and with his late wife Lila Quartermaine had two children. His son Alan Quartermaine was chief of staff at General Hospital, a position his wife Monica Quartermaine would also claim. Before Alan's death, he and Monica were parents to A. J. Quartermaine (deceased), Jason Quartermaine, and Emily Quartermaine (deceased). After a car accident that caused him permanent brain damage and severe amnesia, Jason changed his name to Jason Morgan and severed most of his ties with the Quartermaine family. A. J. is the biological father of Michael Corinthos III and Jason is the biological father of Jacob Spencer, but Jake was killed in a hit and run car accident before any of the Quartermaines knew his true paternity. Monica also had a daughter named Dawn Winthrop who died, and Alan has adopted Skye Quartermaine and Skye is the mother to Lila Rae Alcazar. His daughter Tracy has two sons, Ned Ashton and Dillon Quartermaine, and a granddaughter through Ned, Brook Lynn Ashton. She is currently married to Luke Spencer.

Edward had two other children outside of his marriage. One son with his mistress Beatrice LeSeur (deceased), Jimmy Lee Holt (born as Eric Quartermaine), no longer resides in Port Charles. With his mistress Mary Mae Ward (deceased), Edward fathered the late Bradley Ward II. Bradley has two children: son Justus Ward, who is also dead, and daughter Faith Ward. Faith's daughter Maya came to town in 2010 for a new job.

The Spencers

Luke Spencer and his sister Bobbie Spencer are the two oldest members of the Spencer family since their aunt Ruby Anderson died. With his wife Laura Spencer, Luke fathered Lucky Spencer and Lulu Spencer. Lucky is the biological father of Aiden Spencer with his ex-wife Elizabeth Webber and he is also a father to Elizabeth's two other children Cameron Webber and Jake Spencer (deceased), though he is neither boy's biological father. While married to Laura, Luke had an affair with Holly Sutton and fathered Ethan Lovett who he met in 2009. Luke is Married to Tracy Quartermaine. With her deceased ex-husband Tony Jones, Bobbie is mother to Lucas Jones and was stepmother to B.J. Jones before she died. As a teen, Bobbie gave up her daughter Carly Corinthos Jacks for adoption, though Carly would come back into her life and eventually marry Tony. Through an affair with A.J. Quartermaine, Carly had Michael Corinthos III, though Sonny Corinthos would adopt and raise the boy. Carly and Sonny have another son, Morgan Corinthos, and Carly has a daughter, Josslyn Jacks with her ex-husband Jasper Jacks.

The Cassadines

The Cassadine brothers, Mikkos, Tony and Victor first made their presence in Port Charles felt in 1981, when they caused the infamous blizzard through the use of carbonic snow. Mikkos' younger son Stefan eventually took control of the family and in 1996, he and his nephew Nikolas Cassadine moved to Port Charles permanently, joined by distant Cassadine cousin Alexis Davis who was later revealed to be Mikkos' illegitimate daughter (Natasha Cassadine) with Swedish opera singer Kristen Bergmen. For a time, Stefan owned General Hospital. Stefan's older brother, Stavros Cassadine, who had previously died, had kidnapped Laura Spencer and together they had Nikolas, before she escaped leaving Nikolas with Stefan. In 2001, the family received another addition when Alexis' long lost sister, Kristina Cassadine (originally Kristina Carter), was brought to town to reunite with her sister by Jasper Jacks. Stefan later died in 2003, but Nikolas remains in the city. From time to time, Nikolas' grandmother Helena, the widow of Mikkos shows up to terrorize various residents of the city. Alexis has given birth to three daughters, Samantha McCall, Kristina Davis, and Molly Lansing. Nikolas now has a child, Spencer Cassadine, with the late Courtney Matthews. Samantha McCall had a daughter Lila McCall with Sonny Corinthos but Lila was stillborn on November 8, 2004.

The Scorpios and Jones

Australian ex-pat Robert Scorpio was Police Commissioner of Port Charles for many years (1982–1985, 1987–1992), and solved numerous mysteries and crimes. Robert was presumed dead in 1992, but later returned to town in 2006 to track down Luke Spencer who had brought the encephalitis outbreak to Port Charles. Now trying to mend his relationship with his daughter and his wife, Robin and Anna Devane. Mac Scorpio is Robert's brother, and Mac has two adopted daughters Maxie Jones and Georgie Jones (deceased). The newest member of the Scorpio family is Robin's daughter with Patrick Drake, Emma Scorpio-Drake.

The Corinthos family

Sonny Corinthos arrived in Port Charles in 1993, and owned and operated a strip club before becoming Port Charles' most powerful mobster in the power struggles that followed Frank Smith's death. Sonny had a half-sister, Courtney Matthews, through his absentee father Mike Corbin. Courtney died shortly after giving birth to her son with Nikolas Cassadine due to encephalitis during the outbreak in 2006; the baby was eventually named Spencer Cassadine. Through his mother Adela's affair with Trevor Lansing, Sonny also has a half-brother named Ric Lansing, who is father to Molly Lansing with his ex-wife Alexis Davis. After adopting and renaming his now ex-wife Carly Corinthos's son Michael Corinthos III, Sonny has a second son, Morgan Corinthos. Through an affair with Alexis, he also has a daughter named Kristina Davis. His eldest son is Dante Falconeri through Olivia Falconeri and he served as the informal stepfather to Juan Santiago, the son of his first wife, Lily Rivera. The love of his life was Brenda Barrett whom he married in Februray 2011. They would later get a divorce in July 2011, since Brenda thought that his life stlye was unstable for her resently dicovered son, Alec.

Port Charles residences

Estates

• Quartermaine Mansion (66 Harbor View Road) - Residence of Monica Quartermaine, Edward Quartermaine, Tracy Quartermaine, and Alice Gunderson.
• Greystone (120 Shoreline Road) - Residence of Sonny Corinthos, Max Giambetti, and Milo Giambetti.
• Howard Estate (124 Harbor View Road) - Residence of Kate Howard.
• Jacks Estate (657 Harbor View Road) - Residence of Carly Jacks and Josslyn Jacks

Houses

• Davis Home (57 Lake Road) - Residence of Alexis Davis and Molly Lansing.
• Scorpio-Drake Home (Queen's Point suburb) - Residence of Robin Scorpio Drake, Patrick Drake and Emma Drake.
• The Brownstone (1224 Elm Street) - Residence of Bobbie Spencer.
• Hardy House (453 Maple Avenue) - Residence of Audrey Hardy.
• Webber Home (458 Lexington Road; Queen's Point suburb) - Elizabeth Webber, Cameron Spencer, and Aiden Spencer.

Other residences

• Metro Court Hotel (1420 Courts Lane)
• Spencer-Jones Apt. (114 Clover Avenue), Apartment #68 - Residence of Maxie Jones and Lulu Spencer.
• Harborview Towers (122 Harbor View Drive), Penthouse #2 - Residence of Damian Spinelli, Sam McCall Morgan, and Jason Morgan.
• Zacchara Apt. - Residence of Johnny Zacchara and Anthony Zacchara.
• Sam's Loft, Apt. #346 - Residence of Sam McCall Morgan.
• Dante's Loft, Apt. #4B - Residence of Dante Falconeri.
• Oliva's Loft, Apt. #3 - Residence of Olivia Falconeri.
• Lucky's Apt. (27 S. Patton, Apt 2B) - Residence of Lucky Spencer.
• Abby's Apt. (827 Emerson, Apartment 3-C) - Abby Haver and Michael Corinthos.
• Haunted Star Yacht - Residence of Ethan Lovett.

Government

Mayor

Garrett Floyd

Port Charles Police department

Mac Scorpio, Commissioner

Ronnie Dimestico, Lieutenant

Dante Falconeri, Detective

Lucky Spencer, Detective

Current staff of General Hospital

Chief Of Staff

Robin Scorpio, Neuropathologist; Consultant (medicine); Research

Doctors

Steven Lars Webber, Pediatrician, Head of ER trauma unit

Patrick Drake, Neurosurgeon

Matt Hunter, Neurosurgeon

Kelly Lee, Obstetrician

Monica Quartermaine, Cardiologist

Lainey Winters, Psychiatrist

Nurses

Epiphany Johnson, Head Nurse

Elizabeth Webber, Surgical Nurse (nurse's desk)

Bobbie Spencer, Supervisor of Nursing

Audrey Hardy, Head of Student Nursing

Other medical facilities

• Shadybrook Sanitarium
• Mercy Hospital
• Roselawn Sanitarium
• Ferncliff Asylum
• Port Charles Women's Clinic

Education

Madison Preparatory

Port Charles High School

Port Charles University (PCU)

Queen of Angels

Winston School

Disasters

Hostage crises

June 1983, General Hospital was taken hostage.

1987, a DVX hitman holds several General Hospital staffers hostage in the hospital cafeteria, threatening to unleash the MOX-36 virus. Bobbie Spencer is stabbed with a syringe filled with the virus, and ends up paralyzed from the waist down. She eventually recovered.

February 2007, the Metro Court Hotel's lobby was taken hostage by Jerry Jacks and a team of gunmen. The 12 hour hostage situation ended with the detonation of explosives that destroyed the hotel's lobby and lower floors. Alan Quartermaine died of a heart attack during this crisis. It is implied that the hotel is still notorious for the crisis, and tourists often opt to take their business to the Metro Court's rival, the Cosmopolitan.

June 2011, an unstable doctor, Lisa Niles, who has an obsession with Dr. Patrick Drake fires a gun at the nurses' hub and causes General Hospital to go into lockdown. She takes Patrick, his wife Robin, Maxie Jones, and Steve Webber hostage. She then makes them sit through a mock trial where she accuses them of all the ways she felt they had wronged her. When Damian Spinelli breaks into the room and tries to negotiate with her, he is shot and seriously wounded. She was finally stopped when Dante Falconeri and Jason Morgan invade the room. When she tries to attack Robin one last time, she accidentally sticks herself with a syringe full of drain cleaner and slips into a coma. Lisa awakes and is later killed.

Man-made catastrophes

August 1981, the town experienced a blizzard in the midst of summer. The cause of this blizzard was determined to be Mikkos Cassadine's weather machine, which was later disabled by Luke Spencer.

1988, a bomb explodes in the main exhibition tent of the Port Charles Art Festival.

1990, a blackout hit the city when Cesar Faison joined together the alien crystals from the planet Lumina. This storyline was noted to be the only supernatural plot that the show ever featured.

February 1991, the Quartermaine's S.S Tracy sank in the middle of Port Charles Harbor, unleashing toxic chemicals and causing an environmental disaster.

June 2001, a bus collided head on with a train near the city, interrupting the Nurses Ball, the social event of the year in Port Charles.

February 2004, the Port Charles Hotel burned down. The hotel was completely destroyed, but later rebuilt by Australian businessman, Jasper Jacks, who renamed it the Metro Court after his now deceased wife, Courtney Matthews. The fire was caused by faulty wiring, thanks to Edward Quartermaine's attempt to cut costs.

November 2005, two trains collided in the Glenco tunnel after Manny Ruiz detonated explosives in the tunnel. The high number of casualties includes Reese Marshall. Alexis Davis gave birth to daughter Molly Lansing with the help of Robin Scorpio and Emily Quartermaine in the tunnel.

October 2007, Nikolas Cassadine decided to throw a Black and White Ball for Emily Quartermaine and in honor of the late Dr. Alan Quartermaine. Soon enough, disaster struck in the form of Anthony Zacchara who shot Leyla Mir and also injured Ric Lansing. But it later turned out that there was actually a second intruder - Diego Alcazar, who was the Text Message Killer (TMK). Diego strangled Emily to death, and nearly strangled Carly Jacks to death has well.

March 2008, an abandoned cannery warehouse located on the main docks was blown up by a series of bombs that were planted by the late Diego Alcazar. Other than the loss of Carly Jacks' unborn child, no other fatalities occurred. The explosion left a permanent stable of destruction on the waterfront.

January 2008, a man named Joe Smith strapped a bomb to himself, threatening to blow up the ER unless his wife was given medical attention for her pregnancy. The Smiths had been turned away hours earlier after being told General Hospital did not accept their insurance.

September 2009, mayhem breaks loose at a carnival benefit for the Michael Corinthos III Pediatric Head Trauma Wing. Edward Quartermaine, after being poisoned by Andrea Floyd, crashed his car through the carnival's midway. Ironically, the only fatality was the woman who put the disaster in motion, Andrea herself.

December 2010-January 2011, a General Hospital bus carrying several children and two chaperones goes to Cedar Mountain for a skiing weekend, but crashes, injuring Olivia Falconeri, Matt Hunter, and Morgan Corinthos. Kristina Davis became hypothermic due to exposure to the cold. The bus crash claimed two people's lives: the bus driver and Kristina's friend, Ally

Natural disasters

September 1977, a hurricane strikes the city, claiming the lives of Martha Taylor and David Hamilton's wife and child.

1991, the town experienced an earthquake, which destroyed many homes and buildings. Among the injured were Felicia Jones, and her newborn daughter Maxie.

2005, another hurricane struck the city of Port Charles, but fatalities and damage was light compared to the 1977 hurricane.

Medical incidents

1979, further disaster struck the city, when it was hit by an epidemic of Lassa Fever. General Hospital was quarantined for several weeks until a cure was found, bringing Dr. Steve Hardy to prominence.

February 2006, a deadly mutant strain of encephalitis had the hospital quarantined for a month, leading to several fatalities. Those that succumbed to the virus include Tony Jones and Courtney Matthews.

January 2009, a man released five spheres of biotoxin that he had swallowed into the air while having an emergency surgery performed. The hospital was quarantined, and after an oxygen leak in a surgical suite, an explosion tore through the hospital, leading to a subsequent fire and collapse. The outbreak caused the deaths of Andy Archer, Leyla Mir, and Trevor Lansing. The hospital was remodeled, and reopened four months later.

References

Notes

1. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056758/trivia?tr=tr0651847
2. ^ It was stated on the May 6, 2011 episode.
3. ^ Episode on May 12, 2008

Bibliography

Tropiano, Stephen (2000). TV Towns. New York, NY: TV Books L.L.C.. ISBN 1-57500-127-6. 

External links

• General Hospital Top Ten Catastrophes