Stranger Things Map 2.0

Alright. This map was a bloody nightmare to make. In the first season the show-makers ‘gave’ me a simple newspaper map and some clues.
Now, in the second season they spring a gigantic map upon me with a sudden river, some railways out of nowhere and three of four lakes within the town!

I’m guessing that the creative department took a real map from somewhere and just pasted the name ‘Hawkins’ on it. But for me; my little ditty map suddenly became a full 500% larger.

Even though I can’t remember most of my reasoning from last year I assume that most of my placements of buildings and homes then are still pretty accurate. It’s just that my first map has to be placed somewhere in the ‘new’ BIG map. Time to go puzzling.

The technical ranting (you can skip this bit if you wish)
There are two maps of Hawkins shown this season. First there is the police map in episode 3. This map is only partial but it shows the locations of the pumpkin farms and the laboratory.
Then there’s the full map of Hawkins in episode 5 when Bob is figuring out the location of sheriff Hopper.

The first thing to notice is that this second map is flipped in comparison to the police map. The heart-shaped lake is suddenly north, whilst on the police map it was south. But that’s easily fixed.

The real problem is that the police map and Bob’s map don’t line up. They both have the ‘heart shaped lake’ but the police map also (suddenly) has an additional lake next to it.

Then there’s the problem  when you try to combine these two maps with the map from season one; they don’t line up either.

In short, it is safe to say that, cartography isn't the main thing this television show is banking on.

So, to be honest, this map of mine should, by all accounts, be considered fan-fiction. I did try to take the things I learned from this show as fact. But since I had to make so many educated guesses I'll never be sure whether or not I am right. So the basis is what is given in the show (like a puzzle). The rest is my own making.

Also keep in mind that the show sometimes shows actual streetnames from the town where it was shot.

So this map is part guesswork, part based on the narrative of the show and part grounded in reality.

I just hope that those silly Duffer brothers will read this blog and make my job (as the unofficial cartographer of Hawkins) a bit easier next year by sticking to this map. Pretty please with sugar on top!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this new interpretation of Hawkins Indiana. It took me a while. But I think, it works. The full version is here (link).