A location that appeared in all four seasons of Stranger Things was recently demolished.
After initially investigating the disappearance of Will Byers in Season 1, Stranger Things continued to follow the adventures of a group of teens who make contact with a monstrous alternate dimension known as the Upside Down.
The Netflix sci-fi series takes place in the fictional small town of Hawkins, Indiana, but in reality, it was filmed in and around the U.S. state of Georgia.
Hawkins High School Is No More
For years, Patrick Henry High School in downtown Stockbridge, Georgia, served as the filming location for Stranger Things' Hawkins High School scenes. That location is no more as the school was recently deconstructed to make way for a new building.
The demolition was originally announced in 2022, with Patrick Henry High being removed to make way for the construction of a new STEM school. It is worth noting that the school has not been in active use since 2015 and, in the years since has served purely as a storage location and film set.
The construction was scheduled to begin in the fall of 2024 and, as of this week, it has been confirmed that the last of the Hawkins High set has been pulled down.
An Instagram account going by @thehawkinsreporter posted videos of the set being torn down in recent days. One video shows the iconic gymnasium being pulled apart by an excavator.
The location did not go down without a fight as West Hawaii Today reported that Georgia leaders attempted to preserve the Hawkins High mural on the front of the building to serve as a tourist destination for fans of Stranger Things.
Unfortunately, their attempts ultimately failed as another post from @thehawkinsreporter showed the Hawkins High mural and its "Home of the Tigers" slogan being demolished.
According to the account, these are the last pieces of the school to be torn down, meaning all remnants of Stranger Things' Hawkins High are now gone. Along with Stranger Things, Patrick Henry High School also provided locations for Brightburn and Candy.
What Does This Mean For Stranger Things 5?
It is unclear when exactly demolition began on Patrick Henry High, but with Stranger Things 5 having wrapped in December 2024 (with over 650 hours of footage), it is likely any Hawkins High scenes were completed before the school's destruction.
Demolition may also have been delayed to allow the series to finalize its shooting schedule.
Of course, there is no telling what state Hawkins will be in when the series picks up in Season 5. The end of Stranger Things 4 saw an earthquake strike Hawkins and open a portal to the Upside Down right in the middle of the town.
It remains to be seen whether many scenes will take place at Hawkins High, seeing as the town will be in disarray and school will no longer be a priority.
That being said, given all of the adventures that have gone down at Hawkins High, it seems likely the school will make some kind of appearance in the show's swan song.
Stranger Things 5 will be released on Netflix in 2025.
