Fans of Stranger Things have been so involved in the mysteries thrown at them by the characters they forget to notice a striking fact about the show. The background of the fictional town of Hawkins where every action was taking place. Although rooting terror and death scenes captured the attention of fans, the settings were exceptionally beautiful and nostalgic.

And it might be surprising for fans to know what location inspired this Hawkins town theme according to this theory. Read on to know more about how the landlocked state of the United States ‘East Tennessee’ influenced the most-watched show on Netflix. 

The exteriors of Stranger Things are similar to the real-life state of East Tennessee 

Duffer Brothers shot most of the show in Georgia. But it seems the ideas were brought from the enchanting streets of East Tennessee. For instance, after the release of season 1, several fans were seen mentioning their hometowns in Tennessee familiar with the set of Stranger Things. On the other hand, during season 2 when Hopper and other townspeople were searching for Will. He told Joyce:

“We’ve been searching all night. We went all the way to Cartersville.”

Thus, this was a major indication because Cartersville is a community of Mount Carmel which is situated in Hawkins County, Tennessee.

Moreover, there is another incidence that speculates the connection when Hopper investigates people for Will Byers’ vanishing. To which the man replies, “No,” “We were fixin’ to go fishing down to Etowah next Sunday.” Any bells ringing in your head! Yes! Etowah is a small city in McMinn County of East Tennessee. Also, it is possible to assume that the people Hopper was talking with might go to Etowah River for fishing as they said. 

Meanwhile, if you still feel there are some loose connections, let’s take a look at the structure of Hawkins town like the labs, buildings, roads, stores, clubs, and red color of the soil. Like, there is an Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Roane County, though they do not have any supernatural portal hidden underneath.

Therefore, if you search East Tennessee on the internet, you would see all the threads connecting to Hawkins. They have an almost similar environment as we saw in the show. Stranger Things 4 volume 2 is currently streaming on Netflix.