When a young girl is left on the doorstep of the Walton's home, they take her in. After taking her to the doctor, they learn she is deaf. One night while the Walton family listen to the radio John boy takes matters into his own hands when Holly (the deaf girl) runs up to her room crying. He teaches her sign language! This new skill comes in handy when the youngest of the Walton family gets locked by accident in a box in a haunted house, which later turns out to be the house where Holly lives.

A carnival troupe comes to Walton's Mountain. When the manager absconds with the money, four members are stranded at the Walton house. They thank the Waltons with a private performance.

The family cow, Chance, gives birth to a healthy calf but John announces that it must be sold to make ends meet. Elizabeth and Jim-Bob hide the calf to save it. John relents and the family keeps the calf.

John Boy prepares to go on his first hunt and is distressed over taking an animal's life. During the hunt he saves John's life from an attacking bear. Meanwhile Mary Ellen debates over a new dress or a baseball mitt.

John Boy borrows an antique typewriter from the Baldwin sisters so he can send a story to a magazine. Mary Ellen mistakenly sells it to a junk man, but through diligence, gets it back for her brother.

When a meteorite falls on the Baldwin's house, Zeb believes his time has come. The Baldwin sisters are cheated by their cousin until Zeb and John come to the rescue.

The Reverend Matthew Fordwick comes to Walton's Mountain and upsets the family with his strict and forceful preaching. He innocently samples The Recipe, and John helps him to be accepted within the community.

Gino, a boy from the slums of New York City, runs away from a CCC Camp and learns about trust and love from the Waltons.

A Jewish family, escaping refugees from Nazi Germany, come to Walton's Mountain for safety. Their 13-year-old son loses respect for his father in the son's attempt to maintain his religious beliefs and practices.

John's old army buddy, Tip Harrison, tries to cover his lack of success with childish actions and comments culminating in an accidental fire and the shooting of Reckless, the family dog.

John-Boy's truck breaks down and he meets the author, A.J. Covington. John-Boy jeopardizes a timber contract badly needed by the family.

The Walton's distant cousins arrive on the mountain and immediately upset everyone's life by their shiftless dishonest ways.

The Baldwin sisters and The Recipe play a pivotal role in this story involving their unscrupulous scheming cousin, Homer Lee Baldwin.

Mary Ellen meets a traveling troubadour, Jamie, and neglects her responsibilities of helping pick fruit.

When her car breaks down, the famous extravagant actress, Alvira Drummond, finds herself stranded on Waltons Mountain. The children, especially Mary Ellen, are fascinated by her "Hollywood" ways.

A young girl's father objects to Miss Hunter's teaching Evolution. During a drunken rage he burns down the school and is killed in the fire.

John Boy falls in love with Jenny Pendleton who returns to Walton's Mountain. Jenny's father and new stepmother follow her to the mountain. Her father is killed in an auto accident and Jenny returns home with her stepmother. John-Boy suffers his first lost love.

Olivia's uncle Cody Nelson comes to visit with the Waltons and finds love with a woman who has been divorced four times.

A gypsy family is stranded, but the leader refuses to accept help from the Waltons. His pride almost costs the life of his baby son.

It seems that the Waltons never officially registered the deed to Walton's Mountain. In order to help pay the legal fees, John-Boy leaves home for a job in the city. He meets new friends, gets mugged and earns a reward to help the family keep their home.

A neighbor lady, Verdie Grant, asks John-Boy to teach her to read and write. He agrees to teach her as he helps Elizabeth. Things go wrong, however, and feelings get hurt.

Local blacksmith, Curtis Norton, has John-Boy write letters to his bride-to-be. When she arrives on Walton's Mountain, life and Curtis are much different than she expected. Meanwhile, Olivia is feeling new pangs for freedom and something "different" in her life.

John-Boy's friend Sarah sees him as a way to escape her "trapped" life with her demanding mother. When John-Boy rejects her advances, she runs off and plans to elope with a townie.

The entire family suffers a crisis when Olivia is stricken with polio. Dr. Vance prescribes the accepted treatment, but Olivia does not get better. John-Boy learns of a new treatment practiced by Sister Kenny and the family tries it to heal Olivia in time for the Easter service.