Season 3 Filming Locations Guide: Where was Stranger Things filmed?

The horror has been unleashed in a small town of the American Midwest. Mysteries, adventures, sci-fi and romance enveloped by an outstanding soundtrack with a retro sound of classic synths. However, the key feature of the show is the fact that it's wonderfully set in the 80's. The story is a delicious cocktail that mixes references from The Goonies to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Alien or Twin Peaks.

The third season of the Netflix hit series is picking up a year after the second season left off. The adventurous gang of kids will continue exploring the dangers of the Upside Down dimension, and we hope to learn more about the slimy Demogorgon.

The action takes place in the fictional town of Hawkins (Indiana). Stranger Things was filmed in and around Atlanta, Georgia. Most of the interior scenes are shot at Screen Gems Studios. We try to keep spoilers at bay, so we don't give many details about what's going on at the locations.

The Starcourt Mall is Hawkins's premium shopping center where you can be happy experimenting the joy of capitalism. The production team found a half abandoned complex with many storefronts vacant called Gwinnett Place Mall in Duluth (north of Atlanta). A wing of the center was completely transformed to recreate the colorful retro-eighties place where Scoops Ahoy and the cinema are located.
(Tip: you can open all the locations on Google Maps clicking on the links below in the captions ↴)
Image courtesy of Netflix and Thomson200 - Map

The Hawkins Community Swimming Pool was filmed very close from the studios, in South Bend Pool at 2000 Lakewood Ave SE in Atlanta. Image courtesy of Netflix - Map

The Town Hall exteriors were shot in East Point's City Hall. Hopper's restaurant in S03E02 is Dominick's Italian Of Historic Norcross. Image courtesy of Netflix and Google Maps

Mayor Kline's Funfair rides from S03E06 were provided by the family owned company Forever Young Amusements based in Conley, although a Reddit user suggested that the traveling carnival may have been set at the Georgia Renaissance Festival grounds in Fairburn. The beach from the last episode of season 3 was filmed in Malibu, California, the sun-kissed city doubling as Oceancrest in the movie Fatal Affair. Image courtesy of Netflix - Map

It all started one dark evening at the Hawkins National Laboratory, where a military experimental research was taking place. The exterior of the lab was shot in a building on Emory University's Briarcliff campus in Atlanta. This evil structure gets extra gloomy points when you get to know that it's a former psychiatric hospital. The interiors of the lab (and also Wheelers and Byers family homes interiors were created on set in the studios.
Image courtesy of Netflix and Elle Jaye - Map

The next few locations can be found in the center of Jackson GA, the town where most of the scenes of downtown Hawkins. The Hawkins Library is the Butts County Probate Court. - Image courtesy of Netflix and Google Maps
NOTE from the writer: I realized 3 years later after publishing the first version of this post, that this image is the only one on the WHOLE website that is upside down. In Atlas of Wonders the screenshot goes ALWAYS first and the image of the actual location, below. What a strange thing that my subconscious left the image with the Upside Down world... upside down!

In a corner of this central square there's Melvald's General Store where Joyce (Winona Ryder) works (and where she acquires a brand new landline phone in season 1). At the other end of this block of buildings was recorded the scene where Nancy runs to the cinema. Image courtesy of Netflix

Hawk movie theater was also one of the buildings here in Jackson, at 2 Oak St.
Image courtesy of Netflix and Google Maps

The exterior of the house of Mike and Nancy Wheeler is located at 2530 Piney Wood Lane in East Point.
Image courtesy of Netflix and Google Maps

Steve’s house, where the events of the swimming-pool party take place in season one (sorry Barb), is situated at 8253 Carlton Rd in Riverdale. Image courtesy of Netflix and Google Maps

Also thanks to our friend David Singleton (Hello!) we discovered where the Byers House is located. However, the owners are not very happy about publishing the full address in Stockbridge, although it has been already posted somewhere else anyway. Image courtesy of Netflix

Dustin Henderson's house is at 2886 Piney Wood drive in East Point, right around the corner from where the Wheeler and Sinclair houses are located. Image courtesy of Netflix and Google Maps

Lucas Sinclair's house can be found at 2550 Piney Wood Lane, also in East Point.
Image courtesy of Netflix and Google Maps

Barb's parents house is in the same neighborhood, at 2980 Piney Wood Drive.
Image courtesy of Netflix and Google Maps

Max and Billy's house is 5280 Moore St in Stone Mountain.
Image courtesy of Netflix and Google Maps

Exteriors and interiors of Hawkins Middle and High School were recorded in a closed down school in Stockbridge. You can’t get in the building, but it is possible to walk around and check out the upside hole still in the wall.
Image courtesy of Netflix and Google Maps

The Police's Department was shot at Courthouse Square West in Douglasville.
Image courtesy of Netflix and Google Maps

Lots of action is happening in the woods. Many scenes were shot in the scenic Stone Mountain Park in Atlanta (where the kids walk through the tracks), and at Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers. The series Ozark was also shot around Atlanta in Georgia. Find all the filming locations in our report: Where is Ozark Filmed?

Bellwood Quarry in Atlanta can be seen in three episodes of the first season, when police are looking for Will and later on when the... hey, we said no spoilers! Image courtesy of Netflix and Haley

Steve seating in front of a Fair Mart at 7703 US-78, Winston. Do you know that Outer Banks stars Chase Stokes and Madelyn Cline had small roles in the series? Chase plays a jerk in season 1 episode 6, and Madelyn appears briefly as Tina in the two first episodes of season 2. But, where was Outer Banks filmed? We've got the best locations report at this side of the dimension! Image courtesy of Netflix and Google Maps

Benny's Burgers is the fast food restaurant where Eleven entered in the first episode. All the shots related to these sequences were recorded on location at Tiffany's Kitchen, 7413 Lee Road in Lithia Springs.
Image courtesy of Netflix and Google Maps

The store where El goes shopping Eggo waffles can be found at 504 Center St. in Palmetto. The shop, named 'Bradley's Big Buy', makes a cameo in S03E07. Image courtesy of Netflix and Google Maps

The cemetery and the church in the background from the funeral is the Bethany United Methodist Church at 607 Rivers Rd in Fayetteville. Image courtesy of Netflix and Google Maps

The street where the scene of the flying van takes place is Sarahs Lane in Tucker.
Image courtesy of Netflix and Google Maps

The production built the Arcade set in what had been a laundromat in Douglasville. The exteriors of the hospital in season 2 were filmed in the back of the First Baptist Church in East Point. Image courtesy of Netflix and Google Maps

Is it possible to visit in a guided tour Hopper's Cabin in the woods and Merrill’s pumpkin patch in Sleepy Hollow Farm near Powder Springs. Image courtesy of Netflix - Map

The intro of the first episode of season 2 was filmed in Atlanta (Peachtree Place in midtown). The skyscrapers from Pittsburgh in the background were digitally added in post-production. Image courtesy of Netflix and Google Maps

The bridge where Kali fakes the collapse to lose the cops is on Glenn Street in Atlanta's West End, between Northside Drive and Humphries Street. (They did some digital augmentation in some shots to make a longer tunnel than it actually is). Image courtesy of Netflix and Google Maps

Some more minor locations set in Chicago were actually shot in metro Atlanta (thanks to MovieMaps for the info): The hideout from S02E07 is a warehouse at 315 McDonough Blvd, and the gas station where the gang stops in the same episode is Ravi's Food Mart in Lithonia. Image courtesy of Netflix - Map

Can you help to improve this post about the shooting locations of Stranger Things? To complete and correct this report, any feedback, info or images that you may have are more than welcome, thank you!

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After the first season was released, there was not much merchandising available about the show (no one expected such a success!?). But this is changing faster than Eleven swallows a waffle. The latest stuff that we discovered in Amazon are these cool Upside Down T-Shirts and this ugly Merry Christmas sweatshirt. Also we totally recommend the two volumes from the Original Series Soundtrack.

The original Drew Struzan-Style poster or any of the ones below also look good on your wall. Finally, the fan book Worlds Turned Upside Down: The Official Behind-the-Scenes Companion is an interesting read about where the inspiration comes from, like this video comparing scenes from Stranger Things with references from 70-80’s movies.