Okay, yesterday I made this post about trying to work out different locations in Stranger Things based off of the map Hopper uses early on in season 2. Continuing my rewatch and continuing to unwisely down-prioritize my studies, I’ve now revised the map based off of the map on Murray’s wall we’re shown in episode 5 and some information Bob gives us when he realizes that Will’s drawings is a map. Murray has two notice boards up on the wall. The left one is devoted to his investigation into Barb’s disappearance. The right one is devoted to his larger investigation into the weird happenings in Hawkins. Most of the right board is covered by a large map of Hawkins which has pins in it marking out locations and strings attached to these pins drawn to pins holding up various photos, newspaper cuttings, letters etc that pertain to the locations in question. It’s a huge mess and difficult to make out specifics but through screenshots and then sharpening these in Photoshop it’s been possible to make out some things quite clearly. So, my revised map of the (southern portion) of Hawkins:
(click here for a screenshot giving an overview of Murray’s map)
1. The Lab. Definitive location as Hopper on screen circles it on this map.
2. Mirkwood, where Will’s bike was found. I believe this is the location because a pin in Murray’s map placed here is connected by string to a photo of police tape sealing off a scene (like they did after finding his bike), plus the vicinity of that pin to the Lab and to the Byers house. Click here for the screenshot, look at the dark photo at the center of the bottom of the frame and the string connecting it to the pin just northeast of the Lab.
3. The Byers house. I believe this is its locations because of a pin placed here with string connecting to a photo that appears to be of the house. Also makes sense in relation to points 1 and 2. Click here to see the screenshot, at the bottom left of the screen you see the photo of the house and the string connecting it to this pin.
4. Wheeler house and Sinclair house. This is more of an approximate location than the ones above because it’s a bit tougher to make out the connecting strings here. Because the strings go all the way over to the left board, where Murray has traced Barb’s last-known whereabouts and as part of that has a photo of the Wheeler house with a pin in it and string that seems to connect to a pin that’s placed here, but there’s multiple pins and strings in this area of the map and it’s tough to trace because the camera pans from the map to the board to the left and Nancy’s head in the shot covers the middle of the strings. So this isn’t 100 % but my best guesstimate. In any case, if not exactly here it seems to be in this general area. Click here for screenshot and here for the same one sharpened even more (they’re all sharpened but this one extra much in an effort to make out the strings but I don’t know which is easier to look at for people) I base this on, to the left you can see a photo of the Wheeler house next to the post-it reading “Pick up Nancy Wheeler” and a string going from it, partly obscured by Nancy’s head but it seems to connect like this.
5. Harrington house. Just like the Wheeler house based on a photo of it Murray has put up as part of his Barb investigation that seems to connect by string to a pin here. Like point 4 it’s a little trickier to make out than points 1-3, but I’m pretty sure of this. It also makes sense in relation to points 1-4. The area between point 5 and points 1, 2 and 3 would be the woods (or part of the woods) the Demogorgon stalks in s1. It’s also relatively close to where I think the Wheeler house is, which also makes sense as Nancy could walk home from Steve’s. Click here for screenshot I base this on (or here for extra sharp), same as for the Wheeler house, you can see a photo of the Harrington house as part of the Barb timeline and the string seems to connect to the pin here marking where Barb was last seen. Also note the photo of a car or van at the top of the right board with a string connecting it to this same location, I can’t quite make out the car well enough to see if it’s a photo of Barb’s car or a van the lab uses, but I’m leaning to the latter (Lab people went out there to cover it up, moving Barb’s car for instance and presumably they came in a van like they did throughout s1 and a neighbor possibly reported seeing it).
6. Benny’s Burgers. Precise location due to a close up where you can see a pin here connecting by string to a pinned article about Benny’s suicide at the diner. Click here for the screenshot where you can clearly make out the pin marking the location and the pin in the article and the string connecting them.
7. Sattler’s Quarry. Based off of a pin on Murray’s map which connects by string to multiple other pieces of evidence he has up that concerns happenings at the Quarry. Namely, one string connects to a newspaper cutting about state troopers finding Will’s fake body here, along with a photo of the crime scene it appears, string also connects it to a sketch of El and photos of Troy and James (ie concerning the statement they give the police after El break Troy’s arm at the quarry, it’s one of the confirmed sightings of the to Murray mysterious young girl he believes is a Russian spy. He has marked out other confirmed sightings of El based on witness accounts, for example Bradley’s Big Buy which is not visible on this part of the map). Click here and here for screenshots that I base this on, you can see a pin to the southeast which string connecting it to the sketch of Eleven to the right, and further string connecting it to the photos of Troy and James at the top of the screen, and string to a newspaper cutting that when zoomed in I could make out more clearly.
8. Hawkins High School and Middle School. Actually it’s slightly to the north of this point but due to the shot cutting off the map here it’s the closest approximation. On Murray’s map (which I didn’t want to use for this since it’s cluttered and less clear) it’s clearly marked with a pin with string connecting to a photo of the high school, he marked it out as part of tracing Barb’s last day. So it’s definitely here in the southeast part of town, juuuust out of frame in this shot of the map. And the middle school too of course since it’s located right next to it. Click here for screenshot, at the top of the screen you can see the photo of the high school (just below the photo of the car/van) and then string connecting it to one of the pins in the southeast part of town.
9. Lovers Lake. Bob confirms it to be this lake as he when looking at Will’s drawings sees a heartshaped part and recognizes it as Lovers Lake. So far unseen location on screen.
10. Lake Jordan. After identifying Lovers Lake Bob extrapolates from that to finding another body of water, Lake Jordan. He later identifies more lakes and a river, and the map Bob himself then uses (which shows the whole town but is harder to make out details on) shows that there is a river running through Hawkins and more lakes to the north, northeast and east of town (he names Tippecanoe and Danby Creek) but I assume this lake is Lake Jordan as it’s the closest to Lovers Lake. Danby Creek by the way is located northeast of town and it’s half a mile south of this where the hub of the tunnel system, where Hopper is stuck in episode 5, is.
Oh and here’s two screens of Bob’s map which is more vague, click here for the better image and here for him marking out where the x (where Hopper is trapped) is located (half a mile south of Danby Creek).
So that’s where I’m at now, varying degrees of clarity with this. What I’m most curious about is the exact locations of the Wheeler house and Harrington house, and what the white area on the western outskirts of town is. There’s a pin there with string connecting both to the sketch of El and the newspaper cutting about Will, which makes me assume it’s a spot where Murray has marked a possible sighting of the mysterious kid with buzzed hair (remember that early in s1 witnesses and Hopper were uncertain if it was Will they saw and it turned out to be El) so it’s a place where El might’ve been spotted, not to do with Will. I also wonder where the junkyard is located, my money is on it being south of town somewhere between the Lab and the quarry. But most of all I’m curious as to where the Starcourt Mall will be located.
