Is Hawkins, Indiana, a real town? and other burning questions about 'Stranger Things'

In the new season of "Stranger Things," cars show off "Wander" Indiana license plates and Indiana Flyer is the company behind a coin-operated amusement ride.

For fact-checkers, our state issued distinctive red, green and yellow "Wander" plates from 1984 through 1986 — matching the 1985 setting of "Stranger Things 3." Indiana Flyer? Pretty sure that's a made-up business name.

Appleton: A 'Stranger Things' cartoon is a slam dunk idea. A play? A spinoff? Well...

Elsewhere, two characters are unclear about the famed Indianapolis car race being 500 or 300 miles in length. It's the Indy 500, and being drugged in Cold War espionage is the only reason a Hoosier wouldn't know this.

For the most part, fiction dominates the retro sci-fi show based on alternate dimensions and terrifying monsters.

Let's sort out five questions you might have about "Stranger Things":

1. Is Hawkins, Indiana, a real town?

No. Series creators the Duffer Brothers, Matt and Ross, devised fictional Hawkins after high production costs prevented the duo from giving "Stranger Things" a coastal setting of Montauk, New York. “We started to talk a lot about Castle Rock, Stephen King’s fictional town (in Maine),” Matt Duffer told IndyStar in 2016. “We thought, ‘How cool would it be to create our own fictional town?’ Then we're not bound by anything in the real world. We could do whatever we want." The show is made in Georgia, a state known for offering production incentives to TV and movie crews.

Straight out of Hawkins: 'Stranger Things' Byers home for sale in Georgia

Hawkins is said to have a population of 30,000, but there's no indication of where in Indiana the community is found. A rock quarry in the first season implied the southern part of the state, where limestone is plentiful. The second season, however, included a geographic reference to "Tippecanoe" — a name associated with a river and county in the northern part of the state. And someone wears a Purdue University shirt in the new season.

The Duffer Brothers said Indiana is where their freaky things happen because of the state’s “quintessential American” qualities.

2. Is Starcourt Mall a real place?

No, but you can visit the mall seen in "Stranger Things 3." The Duffer Brothers shot scenes at Gwinnett Place Mall, a shopping destination that opened in suburban Atlanta in 1984. One wing of the mall lost its tenants (including an entire food court), making it possible for TV work, the Gwinnett Daily Post reported. Time may be running out for stores still in business at Gwinnett Place. A Philadelphia investor is buying the building with hopes of placing a 20,000-capacity stadium for the sport of cricket on the site, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

More Stranger Things news: 'Stranger Things' star Millie Bobby Brown says she's enrolled at Purdue University online

3. What inspired Hawkins National Laboratory?

One theory points to Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. The Knoxville (Tennessee) News Sentinel reported on a Reddit user who connected dots between Hawkins and Roane County in Eastern Tennessee. Hawkins is part of fictional Roane County in Indiana, but Tennessee is home to an actual Roane County — which isn't far from Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Eddie Munson, Stranger Things lives on: 'Somewhere in Indiana,' beloved 'Stranger Things' Season 4 character is honored

In "Stranger Things," Hawkins National Laboratory is overseen by the U.S. Department of Energy and overrun by sinister experiments. In the 1940s, Oak Ridge National Laboratory injected an African American construction worker with Plutonium 239 without his knowledge.

Support our journalism

Please support the work of IndyStar reporters and visual journalists by becoming a subscriber today. Get unlimited digital access here!

4. Where does Murray Bauman live?

In a small town in Illinois. Two sets of "Stranger Things" characters drive from Hawkins to Sesser, Illinois, to visit private investigator Murray Bauman. Sesser is an actual coal-mining community of 2,000 residents 100 miles west of Evansville. "Stranger Things" viewers have noted a phone number for Bauman — (618) 625-8313 — is mentioned in the new season. The area code corresponds with Sesser's location, and callers are treated to a comedic (and perhaps clue-laden) recording by Bauman (portrayed by Brett Gelman).

5. Is The Indianapolis Star a real newspaper?

Yes, you're reading it. Founded in 1903, IndyStar receives a compliment from Karen Wheeler (portrayed by Cara Buono) during a "Stranger Things 3" pep talk given to her journalist daughter, Nancy (Natalia Dyer). We're all thankful the jerks at The Hawkins Post don't work here.

IndianapoLIST: Obsessed with Indianapolis? Subscribe to our newsletter

Call IndyStar reporter David Lindquist at 317-444-6404. Follow him on Twitter: @317Lindquist.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Wondering if Hawkins, Indiana, is a real town? Here's the answer