Hawkins (Stranger Things): the Indiana town, place by place, from 1983 to 1989
Place · Fictional Indiana town · Seasons 1 to 5
Hawkins is the small Indiana town where Stranger Things is set: an ordinary American town, with its secret lab, its mall, its arcade, and a gate to another world under its feet. From Will's disappearance in November 1983 to the military quarantine of 1987, the town is a character in its own right. This page walks it place by place, season by season, and brings together everything you need to know to find your way around.
The essentials
- State: Indiana, in the heart of the American Midwest
- Nature: a fictional town, created for the show; filming mainly in Georgia
- Period: from November 1983 to May 1989
- Institutions: the national laboratory, the police station, the middle school and Hawkins High
- Cult places: the Palace Arcade, Starcourt, Melvald's, Family Video, Scoops Ahoy
- Cursed places: the Creel house, Lover's Lake, the Mirkwood woods, the trailer park
- Fate: cut in two by a rift in 1986, under quarantine in 1987, freed in 1989
Contents
What is Hawkins?
Hawkins does not exist. It is a town invented for the show, set somewhere in Indiana, with enough woods, ranch houses, vacant lots, and secrets for a monster to vanish there with a child without anyone being surprised. The show was filmed in Georgia, but everything in the writing says the Midwest: the winters, the bikes, the mothers who work at the drugstore, the police chief who knows everyone.
What makes Hawkins unique is that it changes with every season. In 1983, it is a town of woods and a lab. In 1984, a town of tunnels and rotten pumpkins. In 1985, a mall town. In 1986, a town of a manhunt, then a town cut in two. In 1987, a town under quarantine, occupied by the army, where creatures roam the streets.
For a fan, knowing Hawkins is knowing where each scene is: the classroom where Eleven destroys the Demogorgon, the basement where everything starts, the pool where Barb vanishes, the lake where Steve dives. This page is made for that.
Why IndianaThe creators wanted an anonymous Midwest small town, far enough from the coasts for the government to hide a lab there without anyone asking questions. 1980s Indiana, between cornfields and woods, offered the set. The name Hawkins does not point to any real town in the state.
In the shop: a piece inspired by Hawkins, chosen by us.
In the shopMen's ringer Strawberry Festival Hawkins T-shirt39,90 €See the product
What you find there
| Place | What it is | Seasons | What happens there |
|---|---|---|---|
| The national laboratory | A federal complex in the woods, the facade of Brenner's program | 1, 2, 4 | The first gate opens in 1983; the demodogs invade it in 1984 |
| The Wheeler basement | The party's headquarters | 1 to 5 | The Dungeons & Dragons game of November 6, 1983; Eleven's refuge |
| the Byers house | A small house on the edge of the woods | 1 to 3 | The wall of lights; the Demogorgon trap |
| Castle Byers | Will's fort in the yard | 1, 3 | Will's abduction; its destruction in 1985 |
| The Palace Arcade | The town arcade | 2 | MadMax's records |
| Starcourt Mall | The mall that opened in 1985 | 3 | Scoops Ahoy, the Russian base, the July 4 battle |
| Melvald's | The drugstore where Joyce works | 1 to 3 | The magnets that fall off the fridges |
| Family Video | Steve and Robin's video store | 4 | The investigation into Vecna |
| Hawkins High | With its gym and its role-playing club | 1 to 5 | The Hellfire Club; the 1986 basketball game |
| Lover's Lake | The lake south of town | 4 | The underwater gate, the Watergate |
| the Creel house | Victorian house abandoned since 1959 | 4, 5 | Vecna's lair, on both sides |
| Forest Hills | The trailer park | 4 | Eddie's trailer, Max's trailer |
| Hopper's cabin | In the woods, inherited from her grandfather | 2, 3, 4 | Eleven's home; Will's exorcism |
| Mirkwood forest | The road between the Byers and the Wheelers | 1 | Will's disappearance; the rift in the tree |
Hawkins season by season
1983Season 1: the town of woods
Hawkins is discovered through its woods, its quarry, its lab on the edge of town, and a roadside diner where a little girl steals fries. A child vanishes, a teenager too, and the town organizes searches without knowing the body found in the quarry is a fake. The national laboratory, which everyone takes for a research center, holds the first gate to the other world.
1984Season 2: the tunnels
The pumpkins rot in the fields, and nobody understands why. Under the town, a network of tunnels dug by the other world stretches toward the lab. The Palace Arcade, the Halloween party, the junkyard, and the middle-school Snow Ball set the rhythm of a season where Hawkins does not know it is already invaded from below.
1985Season 3: Starcourt
A brand-new mall has killed downtown: shops are closing, the mayor is corrupt, and under Starcourt, Soviet engineers are trying to reopen the gate. The municipal pool, the abandoned steelworks, and the hospital become the sets of the possession. On July 4, an underground explosion destroys the mall. The public version talks about a fire.
1986Season 4: the torn town
A high-school girl dies in a trailer, then two other young people, and the town names a culprit: the president of the role-playing club. The streets fill with militias, the Creel house opens its doors again, the lake reveals a gate. On the last night, four portals open at once and a rift several kilometers long cuts Hawkins in two. The press talks about an earthquake. Spores fall from the sky.
1987Season 5: the quarantine
Eighteen months later, Hawkins lives under military quarantine, cut off from the world, under the command of an army scientist. Creatures come out of the rifts, children disappear, and a pirate radio links the survivors. The final battle is fought at the lab and in the Abyss. When the Upside Down is destroyed, the town wakes. The May 1989 epilogue shows it at peace, with a graduation ceremony.
Timeline markers
Will Byers vanishes on the Mirkwood road. The Upside Down stays frozen at that date.
Halloween, the tunnels, the demodogs, the closing of the lab gate, the Snow Ball.
The battle of Starcourt. Billy dies, Hopper vanishes, the mall burns.
Vecna's murders, the manhunt, the four portals, the rift.
The quarantine, Holly's abduction, the final battle, the destruction of the Upside Down.
The epilogue: the diploma ceremony, Hopper's marriage proposal, Mike's deduction.
Another piece from the selection: a piece inspired by Hawkins.
In the shopLego Hawkins party mini figures (set of 4)39,90 €See the product
Not to be confused
| People often say | In reality | The landmark |
|---|---|---|
| Hawkins is a real place | A fictional town; Hawkinses exist elsewhere in the United States, with no connection | No Hawkins in the Indiana of the show |
| The show is filmed in Indiana | In Georgia, mainly around Atlanta | The real sets are in Georgia |
| The mall is there from the start | No: Starcourt opens in summer 1985 | He only appears in season 3 |
| The lab is destroyed in 1984 | It closes, then the army reoccupies it in 1987 | The season 5 quarantine |
A rarer confusion: Lenora Hills, in California, and Kamchatka, in Russia, are not neighborhoods of Hawkins. They are the two exiles of season 4, from which everyone comes back for the final battle. Hawkins, for its part, never changes place.
Our Hawkins products
Hawkins is the most recognizable town on television: posters, T-shirts, and objects inspired by the Palace Arcade, Starcourt, the police station, and the lab. We pick every piece ourselves, and claim nothing beyond our passion for the show.
To complete the reading: a piece inspired by Hawkins.
In the shopHawkins cheerleader jacket and dress set85,90 €See the product
Frequently asked questions
Where is Stranger Things set?
In Hawkins, a fictional small town in Indiana, in the American Midwest, between 1983 and 1989. Season 4 adds two outside settings, Lenora Hills in California and a prisoner camp in Kamchatka, Russia, but every battle is fought in Hawkins. The show is filmed in Georgia.
Does Hawkins really exist?
No. Hawkins was invented for the show. Towns of the same name exist elsewhere in the United States, but none matches the Indiana one described in Stranger Things. The sets were built or found in Georgia, mainly in the Atlanta area.
What is the Hawkins laboratory?
A federal complex in the woods, the front of Dr. Brenner's program that raised Eleven and the other numbered children. The first gate to the Upside Down opens there in 1983. It is overrun by demodogs in 1984, closed after that, and reoccupied by the army during the 1987 quarantine.
What is Starcourt?
The mall that opened in Hawkins in summer 1985, with the Scoops Ahoy ice-cream counter where Steve and Robin work. Under its foundations, a Soviet base tries to reopen the gate. It is destroyed by an explosion on July 4, 1985, during the battle against the Mind Flayer.
What becomes of Hawkins in season 5?
After the 1986 rift, the town is placed under military quarantine, cut off from the world. Creatures come out of the gates, children are abducted, and a pirate radio links the survivors. When the Upside Down is destroyed, the town is freed. The May 1989 epilogue shows it at peace.
What is the chronology of Stranger Things?
Season 1: November 1983. Season 2: fall 1984. Season 3: summer 1985, until July 4. Season 4: March 1986. Season 5: November 1987, with an epilogue in May 1989. The Upside Down, for its part, stays frozen on November 6, 1983, the day Will vanished.