Hawkins

Hawkins
Town center
Map of Hawkins
Type	Town
Location	Roane County, Indiana, USA
Inhabitants	See below

Hawkins is a fiction small midwestern town located in Roane County in the state of Indiana with an estimated population of 30,000.

History

Prior to 1983, Hawkins was a largely quiet and uneventful town. The last person to be reported missing prior to 1983 was in the summer of 1923, while the last suicide was in fall 1961. The greatest point of interest was the secretive Hawkins National Laboratory, one of several national laboratories which grew out of the scientific endeavors of World War II. Unknown to the residents of the town, the lab was contributing to the controversial government program known as MKUltra.

In November 1983, during experiments at the laboratory, a gate was accidentally opened to an alternate dimension, allowing a predatory creature to enter Hawkins. The monster abducted residents and brought them to the Upside Down. Among its victims were Will Byers, who was brought home after a week, and Barbara Holland, who was killed in the Upside Down. The circumstances of their disappearance were covered up by the agents at Hawkins Lab.

In 1984, the Hawkins Lab was officially shut down as a result of Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers recording a confession from Sam Owens and presenting it to Murray Bauman. Barbara Holland's death was reported to be caused by a chemical spill from the lab, in order to keep the truth of the Upside Down a secret as Bauman believed that the entire public could not believe it and the evidence could easily be destroyed. The gate to the Upside Down was closed by Eleven and Will was free from his possession of the Upside Down's supreme ruler, the Mind Flayer.

The mayor of Hawkins, Larry Kline began buying property in East Hawkins for a company called Starcourt Industries where he in return, began the construction of Starcourt Mall. When the mall opened in the summer of 1985, many shops and businesses in the downtown area of Hawkins were forced to close, causing friction between the mayor and the citizens. However, most of the citizens enjoyed Starcourt, as there were new stores and restaurants than there were in Hawkins before the mall's construction. However, unknown to Mayor Kline and the citizens of Hawkins, Starcourt Mall was actually a front for a secret underground Russian base where the Russians built a machine capable of opening a portal to the Upside Down. The mall's Scoops Ahoy ice cream parlor's employees, Steve Harrington and Robin Buckley, along with Dustin Henderson and Erica Sinclair discovered the base when Dustin intercepted the Russians' communication through his homemade ham radio where they barely managed to escape from the base.

Hawkins's Chief of Police, Jim Hopper and Joyce Byers also discovered the Russians' presence in Hawkins when a power outage disables the magnetism of Joyce's magnets and finding Russian scientist, Alexei. When realizing the Russians' intention to reopen the gate to the Upside Down, Hopper, Joyce, and Murray Bauman rushed back to Hawkins to close the gate again. They managed to sneak into the base and close the gate, though Hopper is presumed to be killed in the process and Starcourt Mall burned to the ground as result of the Party's battle with the Mind Flayer's avatar.

Three months after the mall's destruction, Hawkins became the focal point of several conspiracy theories due to recent events going viral and Mayor Kline was arrested for illegal fundings for the mall's construction.

Residents

• The Byers family
  • Joyce Byers (formerly)
  • Jonathan Byers (formerly)
  • Will Byers (formerly)
• The Wheeler family
  • Ted Wheeler
  • Karen Wheeler
  • Nancy Wheeler
  • Mike Wheeler
  • Holly Wheeler
• The Hopper family
  • Jim Hopper
  • Jane Hopper (formerly)
• TheHolland family
  • Barbara Holland (deceased)
  • Mrs. Holland
  • Mr. Holland
• The Sinclair family
  • Mr. Sinclair
  • Mrs. Sinclair
  • Lucas Sinclair
  • Erica Sinclair
  • Jack Sinclair
• The Hargrove family
  • Neil Hargrove
  • Susan Hargrove
  • Billy Hargrove (deceased)
  • Max Mayfield
• The Blackburn family
  • Unnamed child
• The Henderson family
  • Dustin Henderson
  • Claudia Henderson
• The Harrington family
  • Steve Harrington
  • Mr. and Mrs. Harrington

• The Holloway family
  • Tom Holloway (deceased)
  • Janet Holloway (deceased)
  • Heather Holloway (deceased)
• The Driscoll family
  • Doris Driscoll (deceased)
  • Jack Driscoll (deceased)

• The Kline family
  • Larry Kline (former mayor; incarcerated)
  • Winnie Kline

• The Walsh family
  • Troy Walsh
  • Mrs. Walsh

• Bob Newby (deceased)
• Robin Buckley
• Benny Hammond (deceased)
• Tommy H.
• Officer Powell
• Officer Callahan
• Jeffrey
• Carol
• Nicole
• Florence
• Gary
• Russell Coleman
• Scott Clarke
• James Dante
• Jen
• Jennifer Hayes
• Bev Mooney
• Dale (deceased)
• Henry (deceased)
• Earl
• Marissa
• Ally
• Brenda Wood
• Greg McCorkle
• Hawk Theater Manager
• Hawkins High Principal
• Hunting Store Owner
• Mary Mack Girls
• Pastor Charles
• Patty
• Reed
• Robert
• Sandra
• Unnamed Clerk
• Unnamed English Teacher
• Unnamed Funeral Director
• Unnamed Morgue Worker
• Amy, Laurie and Becky
• Eleanor Gillespie
• Eric
• George Burness
• Kaminsky
• Mr. Mundy
• Ms. Ratliff
• Phil Larson
• Phyllis
• Stacey Albright
• Doris
• Eugene
• Keith
• Merrill
• Mindy Novak
• Mandy
• Samantha Stone
• Unnamed Drunk Teen #1
• Unnamed Homeowner
• Unnamed Hunter
• Unnamed Math Teacher
• Unnamed Mother and Child
• Unnamed High School Student
• Unnamed TV Reporter
• Vicki
• Adam (deceased)
• Anna Jacobi
• Bruce Lowe (deceased)
• Candice
• David (deceased)
• Evil Russian
• Fireworks Kid
• Henry
• Jill
• Liz
• Mike Lewenski
• Mrs. Click
• Tammy Thompson
• Tina
• Unnamed Pool Manager
• Unnamed Hospital Receptionist
• Unnamed Flayed Hawkins Residents (all deceased)

Included and Nearby Locations

• Hawkins National Laboratory, a division of the U.S. Department of Energy
• Hawkins Police Station
• Hawkins High School
• Hawkins Middle School
• Quarry
• Junkyard
• Bradley's Big Buy (supermarket)
• Hawkins General Hospital
• Hawkins Memorial Hospital
• Hawkins Community Pool
• Benny's Burgers
• The Palace Arcade
• Family Video
• Pumpkin Patch
• Enzo's Restaurant
• Hess Farm
• Brimborn Steel Works
• Starcourt Mall (formerly; destroyed by a fire on July 4, 1985)
• Lovers' Lake
• Forrest Hills Park

Downtown

The Downtown of Hawkins was the center of the city of Hawkins, where several public buildings and commercial shops were located. It was a town square surrounding a clock tower building in the center that housed the Public Library.

• Town Hall
• Public Library
• Melvald's General Store
• RadioShack
• Royal Furniture Co.
• Hawk (cinema)
• Rental Solutions
• Hawkins Water & Sewer Authority
• Roane County Coroner
• Hunting & Camping (store)
• Hideaway (pub)

Underground

• Hawkins tunnel system

Roads and areas

• Mirkwood - Road near the Byers' home going past Hawkins National Laboratory, located where Cornwallis and Kerley meet.
• Cornwallis – Close to the Wheeler home, continues onto Kerley, where it goes off to Mirkwood.
• Kerley – Continues onto Cornwallis, where it goes off to Mirkwood.
• Elm and Cherry – Crossing streets where Mike and Dustin would meet Lucas.
• Randolph Lane – Where Benny's Burgers is located.
• Randolph Road – Goes past Hawkins National Laboratory.
• Mulberry Street - Near Melvald's General Store.
• Maple Street - The street where the Wheeler, Sinclair and Blackburn families live.
• "Dearborn and Maple" - Likely an intersection between Maple Street and a possible "Dearborn Street". Nancy and Steve initially plan to meet there after school in Chapter One.
• Loch Nora - A wealthy neighborhood in Hawkins.

Jonathan's map

Jonathan's map, marking the monster attacks.

Before Jonathan and Nancy went monster hunting, he showed her a map taken from a telephone directory, where he had marked the locations of the monster attacks: Steve's house, the place where Will's bike was found and the Byers' house. The map also showed the names of several roads in Hawkins, which were probably the main roads.

Streets going North-South: Johnson, Euclid, Monroe, Washington, Madison, Grant, Habersham, North Ave, Piedmont, and Hill.

Streets going West-East: Broadway, Briarcliff, Jackson, and Henry.

Behind the scenes

Stranger Things was filmed on location in Atlanta, Georgia, and surrounding areas. The town square of Jackson in Butts County was used as the location for downtown Hawkins, and many of the stores were repainted and stocked with vintage merchandise for filming.

The show was originally set in Montauk, Long Island, as shown by the pilot script. For various reasons, the Duffers invented Hawkins and used it as the show's location instead.

Filming location

See also: Filming locations

The town square of Jackson, Georgia and its establishments were used as the filming location for the downtown area. The Butts County Probate court in the center of the town square was used for the Public Library. The shops along 2nd Street were most prominently featured in the show: Jackson Drug as Melvald's General Store, RadioShack as RadioShack and Jason Lee Music Store as the furniture shop.

Preparations

Crews painting the facade of Jackson Drug in preparation for filming, November 2015.

In preparation for the shoot, crews were on the square in November 2015, painting the facades of several businesses, including Jackson Drug, and adding props and signage.

A number of storefronts, primarily on the north side of the square along Second Street, were revitalized to fit the 1980’s era. Jackson Drug Company, Radio Shack and Jason Lee Music Store were given a new color scheme and look for the shoot. Colors used for the painting were drawn from color charts approved by the Downtown Development Authority and played part in future revitalization efforts. 

The storefront of RadioShack stacked with period electronics.

In the week before filming, the prop department loaded the front window of RadioShack with period electronics including console televisions, smaller color and black and white televisions, an Atari game console, a Kenwood stereo component system and a GE cassette tape recorder. The old Deraney’s Department store building, which had stood empty until Jason Lee Music Store had recently opened, was transformed into a furniture store with a selection of 1980’s era furniture pieces placed in the window along the sidewalk.

The north entrance of the Butts County Courthouse was fitted with temporary wooden doors. The old fenced-in enclosure on the north lawn of the courthouse, as well as an old water pipe and concrete around the enclosure, was removed and replaced with plantings for the shoot.

Government Relations Director Michael Brewer said they were "grateful for the cooperation and interest in Jackson from the people at Netflix," especially mentioning assistant location manager Dan Reilly. He said the City and County had worked well together to help Netflix, and Netflix had kept the store owners, the City of Jackson and Downtown Development Authority informed all the way.

Filming

On Monday, November 23, 2015, Mulberry, 2nd and Oak streets were closed around the town square and their parking spaces blocked for filming from 5 AM to 10 PM. Further shoots on the town square were planned for unspecified dates in the early part of 2016.

Netflix worked with the stores on the streets to make alternate arrangements for customers on shooting day. They also worked with local merchants to make sure they were not adversely affected by shooting schedules. Probate Court arraignments continued as scheduled, but those attending were required to enter the courthouse through the Third Street entrance, with Uniform officers in the area assisting with the street closures.