How close is the depiction of Maine (and other places) to reality?

[Gerald]

I've never visited Maine or the US, but the books are often very detailed about the locale. They name highway numbers, roads, towns etc.

Of course some towns are fictional, like Derry or Castle Rock, but how does he use them within the existing REAL Maine (or whatever the locale of the particular novel is)? Does he adapt existing highways or roads and change them for the characters to reach the fictional places?

Is there anyone from Maine here or does ms. Mod know?

[GNTLGNT]

...I bow to Marsha's "inside track", but I've always thought he hewed pretty close to reality other than the fictional locales....

[Moderator]

I've never visited Maine or the US, but the books are often very detailed about the locale. They name highway numbers, roads, towns etc.

Of course some towns are fictional, like Derry or Castle Rock, but how does he use them within the existing REAL Maine (or whatever the locale of the particular novel is)? Does he adapt existing highways or roads and change them for the characters to reach the fictional places?

Is there anyone from Maine here or does ms. Mod know?

Short answer is yes. He uses real locations as they are or adapts them and puts them in his fictional locales. For example, many of the Derry places he's mentioned exist in Bangor.

[mjs9153]

There isn't really a door down there in the sewers,in a huge room,a door with a curiously inscribed device,which leads into.. Nah,couldnt be..

[not_nadine]

Just watch yerself on the beaches.

[king family fan]

Guess we all have visited maine in our reading.Sure hoping it visit Maine in real life.

[Terry B]

What a wonderful question Gerald and thanks for asking it. Surprised no one has before.

[Gerald]

So if I get it right, Derry is a fictional version of Bangor? If you knew Bangor you'd recognize parts of it inside his geography of Derry?

It's kind of hard to look over the many stories and books and be sure whether it all matches and he always uses places and names in the same way. I wonder if he actually has a fictional map for himself or that it's instinctual.

I suppose what you get is a sort of patchwork where some things are real and if you'd visit you'd find it as it is described in the books and other things don't match at all?
He sometimes apologizes in a book for the liberties he takes with certain places.

The thing is that it all feels very authentic, it seems very detailed, especially the roads and highways he mentions. There is not some book (or site) where you'd find photos of places he used and how they look in reality?
For example, I seem to recall him saying that Uncle Otto's truck was real. So, it would be great to find things like that and put them in a book. No one thought about that ever?

I also wonder when he uses an existing street and a house number in an existing city like, say, New York if he checks the real adress, or takes a number that doesn't exist there. Because in reality it could be a house where real people live...

[Moderator]

Yes, that's exactly it, there are places mentioned in the books that will match the real locations especially with the Derry/Bangor locales. The Paul Bunyan statue is real, the Standpipe water tower is real, the barrens and (Kenduskeag Stream) canal are there, Mt. Hope Cemetery, and the list goes on.

Here's a link to location shots taken in Lisbon Falls for sites mentioned in 11/22/63.

He's more careful these days about giving out actual locations that aren't public property or phone numbers that are real (sorry, Maine State Police barracks ).

[~Ally~]

The Paul Bunyan statue is real, the Standpipe water tower is real, the barrens and (Kenduskeag Stream) canal are there, Mt. Hope Cemetery, and the list goes on.

That's just what I was about to post...and I have the pictures to prove it.
Damn, I'd love to revisit Maine again, it's amazing to finally see all these places in real life.