Set in the small fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, Stranger Things is about a group of friends in the 1980s as they investigate bizarre and supernatural events. The series stars David Harbour, Winona Ryder, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown and others in the lead roles.
Even though the series shows scary and otherworldly places, several scenes were actually filmed in real locations. From Hawkins, Indiana, to the Russian Gulag in Kamchatka, the series takes us to different places. However, what you see isn’t always real – Hawkins that you see in the series is actually Georgia, not Indiana, and the Russian scenes were shot in Lithuania.
Here’s a look at the filming locations of Stranger Things.
Downtown Jackson, Georgia
Hawkins isn’t a real city in Indiana. Hawkins’ main streets in the show were filmed in Downtown Jackson, Georgia. Melvald’s General Store was filmed at Jackson Drug (4 Second Street) on the square, where Joyce (played by Winona Ryder) buys the Christmas lights to talk to Will (played by Noah Schnapp) in the Upside Down. In Season 1, The building at 2 North Oak Street—home to Bradley’s Olde Tavern—was used as the facade for the Hawk Theater. And the nearby alley is where Steve (played by Joe Keery) and Jonathan (played by Charlie Heaton) had their fight.
The outside of the Hawkins Public Library was shot at the Butts County Probate Court in Jackson, while the interior library scenes were filmed at the Old East Point Library, 2777 McGee Way, East Point.
8485 Courthouse Square W, Douglasville, Georgia
Not all of Hawkins was filmed in Jackson. The Hawkins Police Station exteriors were filmed at a small brick building at 8485 Courthouse Square W in downtown Douglasville. Although you won’t be able to see Hopper (played by David Harbour) there, fans can still visit the spot.
6501 Church Street, Douglasville, Georgia
In Season 2, a shopping area in Douglasville doubled as the Palace Arcade at 6500–6501 Church St, Douglasville; Family Video is next door at 6503 Church St, where Steve and Robin (Maya Hawke) worked.
Patrick Henry Adult Education Center, Stockbridge, Georgia
In Stockbridge, the Patrick Henry Adult Education Center on South Lee Street was used to film both Hawkins Middle School and Hawkins High School.
149 Coastline Road Fayetteville, Georgia
The Byers residence, in which Joyce, Will, and Jonathan lived, was filmed at 149 Coastline Road, Fayetteville (which, of course, is actually someone else’s house).
906 East 2nd Avenue, Rome, Georgia
The Creel Residence, a Victorian mansion in Rome, Georgia, was used for scenes of the Creel family massacre that begins Vecna’s story in Season 4.
Bradley’s Big Buy, Palmetto, Georgia
In Season 1, Eleven (played by Millie Bobby Brown) got her Eggos at Bradley’s Big Buy after escaping from the Hawkins National Laboratory.
Emory University Hospital, Smyrna, Georgia
Hawkins Memorial Hospital scenes in Season 3 were filmed at the former Emory Adventist Hospital at Smyrna (3949 S Cobb Dr SE). Season 4 also features Hawkins Memorial, but the specific filming site for Max’s coma scenes hasn’t been officially confirmed.
Gwinnett Place Mall, Duluth, Georgia
In Season 3, the intense battle with the Mind Flayer was filmed in Duluth, Georgia. Gwinnett Place Mall (2100 Pleasant Hill Rd, Duluth) doubled as Starcourt Mall in Season 3 — where Billy (Dacre Montgomery) dies protecting Eleven. The mall is now largely vacant and county-owned with active redevelopment underway; Hopper is presumed dead after the Starcourt explosion and is later revealed alive in a Russian prison in Season 4.
Bellwood Quarry, Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, the capital of Georgia, features throughout the series. In Season 1, Bellwood Quarry in West Atlanta was used as Sattler Quarry, where the fake body of Will Byers was discovered.
South Bend Pool, Atlanta, Georgia
In Season 3, the Hawkins Community Pool scenes were filmed at the South Bend Pool on Lakewood Avenue SE.
Boat Rock Bouldering Area, Atlanta, Georgia
In Season 4, the hiding spot for Eddie Munson (played by Joseph Quinn), Skull Rock, was filmed at Atlanta’s Boat Rock Bouldering Area.
Building A, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
Hawkins National Laboratory is where MKUltra experiments were conducted on both adult and child subjects, including Eleven. In real life, this building is actually located on Emory University’s Briarcliff property, which used to be an abandoned mental hospital. According to The Emory Wheel, as of August 2022, the building was set to be demolished to construct a senior living community.
Mary Hall, Berry College, Mount Berry, Georgia
The Pennhurst Mental Hospital was filmed at the Mary Hall building on Berry College’s campus in Mount Berry, Georgia. In Season 4, Victor Creel (played by Robert Englund), who is wrongfully accused of murdering his family in the 1950s, is kept in this hospital.
Stone Mountain Park, Stone Mountain, Georgia
Stone Mountain Park (about 3,200 acres) appears in Seasons 1 and 2. In the show, the park’s old railroad tracks appear when kids are seen crossing while helping Eleven, and again while searching for Dustin’s pet Demogorgon.
Stone Mountain Cemetery, Stone Mountain, Georgia
In Season 2, the cemetery is shown as the place where Barb (played by Shannon Purser) is buried. In Season 4, it is a main spot, as Max has one of her biggest confrontations with Vecna there while mourning her stepbrother Billy.
Bethany Cemetery, Fayetteville, Georgia
The funeral scene for Will Byers’ fake body in Season 1 was filmed at Bethany Cemetery in Fayetteville.
Aliberto’s Mexican Food, Los Lunas, New Mexico
The California scenes in the series were actually filmed in New Mexico. In Season 4, the Surfer Boy Pizza spot wasn’t a real pizza shop – it was a Mexican restaurant in Los Lunas called Aliberto’s.
Eldorado High School, Albuquerque, New Mexico
In Season 4, Eldorado High School (Albuquerque) doubled for Lenora Hills High, where Eleven is bullied.
Skate-O-Mania, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Also in Albuquerque, Skate-O-Mania (shown as Rink-O-Mania) is the roller rink where Eleven is humiliated in front of Mike and uses her powers on Angela (Elodie Grace Orkin).
Americana Motel, Albuquerque, New Mexico
It was easy for the crew to make New Mexico look like California, but surprisingly, they managed to show New Mexico look like Alaska! In Season 4, the crew filmed at the Americana Motel in Albuquerque and used filters to make it look like an Alaskan motel, where Joyce and Murray (Brett Gelman) spend a night during their mission to rescue Hopper.
Kyviškės Aerodrome, Vilnius, Lithuania
In Season 4, Joyce and Murray manage to get help from Yuri, a shady smuggler in Alaska who owns Yuri’s Fish’n’Fly, a business that offers plane rides and also sneaks goods into the Soviet Union. But the real filming didn’t happen in Alaska. The Fish’n’Fly scenes were actually shot at Kyviškės Aerodrome in Vilnius, Lithuania.
St. Nicholas Church, Semeliškės, Lithuania
The Orthodox church where Yuri hides his contraband is not near Kamchatka, but it is actually St. Nicholas Church in Lithuania, about 30 miles from Vilnius.
Lukiškės Prison, Vilnius, Lithuania
The gulag scenes featuring Hopper in Season 4 were filmed at the deactivated Lukiškės Prison in Vilnius, Lithuania. After Stranger Things filmed there, the Lithuanian government decided to sell part of the site. Netflix and Airbnb opened a Stranger Things-themed cell where people can pay to spend the night, a decision that many considered insensitive.
