Where was Hillbilly Elegy filmed? The house in Middletown and all the locations

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Set in Middletown, Ohio, Hillbilly Elegy is an adaptation of J.D. Vance's bestselling book of the same name, subtitled Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.

The story navigates the dynamics of the author's Appalachian family roots and their struggles with poverty, alcoholism, and abuse.

Glenn Close and Amy Adams

J. D. Vance is played by Gabriel Basso (The Big C, Super 8). 7-time Oscar nominee Glenn Close plays her grandmother and family matriarch, Mamaw.

Amy Adams (Arrival, Sharp Objects) plays Bev, J.D.'s mother, and Bo Hopkins (Midnight Express, American Graffiti) is grandpa Papaw Vance.

Hillbilly Elegy was filmed in Middletown, but most of the movie was shot in and around Atlanta, Georgia. Here is our (almost) spoiler-free filming locations guide.

The Hillbilly Elegy locations

Where was Hillbilly Elegy filmed
The Middletown railway overpass appears in the three time periods in which the film is set: the 1940s, the late 1990s, and 2012.

This tunnel is located on Poplar Street in Macon, Georgia.
(You can open all the locations on Google Maps by clicking on the links below in the captions ↴)
Image courtesy of Netflix and Google Maps


Location in Macon
The Historic Macon website reports that the film crew dressed up the exteriors of some 20 shops and buildings to recreate Middletown street scenes on Poplar Street.

The HBO series Watchmen also took advantage of the quantity and quality of historic buildings in downtown Macon to shoot scenes set in the 1940s.
Image courtesy of Netflix and Google Maps


The steel plant
The factory was created by blending the Schnitzer scrap metal recycling center on Edgewood Avenue in Macon with images of the blast furnace at the century-old AK Steel plant in Middletown.

Established in 1900, AK Steel is one of the oldest steel mills in the United States and a major producer of flat-rolled carbon, stainless, and electrical steel products.
Image courtesy of Netflix and Google Maps / AK Steel Map


Hillbilly Elegy house
The Vance family house and neighborhood were filmed on Harrison Street in downtown Middletown.

Local press reported that additional scenes were shot on Liebee Street and on Main Street by the historic Sorg Opera House.
Image courtesy of Netflix - Map


The Yale Law School
The exteriors of Yale University were filmed on location on the campus in New Haven, Connecticut.

Founded in 1701, Yale is one of the oldest and most prestigious institutions of higher education in the country.
Image courtesy of Netflix - Map


Barnett Condos in Atlanta
However, the dinner reception for the law students was filmed at the Barnett Condos in Atlanta.
Image courtesy of Netflix and Google Maps


Hillbilly Elegy drehort
The Victory sports card and collectibles store was filmed at 3003 Vineville Avenue in Macon.
Image courtesy of Netflix and Google Maps


RadioShack store
The scene where young J.D. (Owen Asztalos) is looking for a Texas Instruments calculator in a RadioShack store was also filmed in Macon, near the Bibb Theatre on 3rd Street.
Image courtesy of Netflix - Map


Cheshire Motor Inn
Starting at $75 for a double room, you can stay at the motel where the final scene took place at 1865 Cheshire Bridge in Atlanta.

The Cheshire Motor Inn was also featured in the 2013 comedy Identity Thief and Clint Eastwood's 2018 film The Mule.
Image courtesy of Netflix - Map


Can you help to improve this article about the shooting locations of Hillbilly Elegy? 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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9 comments
  1. This article is wrong. There is an article steel plant in Middletown, oh and it is still running at full capacity. The plant in Ashland ohio is a separate plant and that one closed in 2019.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Thanks for your comment, We have corrected the mistake!

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    2. The plant in middletown Ohio is running. The plant in ashland Kentucky is the one that closed.

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    3. Yes, we got confused, thank you :)

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    4. AK steel has been sold and is now Cliffs...it has never stopped operating and still going strong and hiring everyday

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  2. The AK blast furnace was built in the late 60’s as part of “Project 600”.
    Before that they used open hearth furnaces located on Curtis Street

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  3. It was a Texas instrument calculator

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  4. Does anyone know where the cemetery scene was filmed?

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  5. The scene where Mom and JD were in the car and she started hitting him and cursing him and he jumped out of the car was in Griffin, GA. On Steele road right in front of my house and property. I got to watch that part being filmed.

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