Fictional characters Nancy Wheeler and Robin Buckley needed answers, and the incarcerated Victor Creel had them. To speak with the infamous man suspected of murdering his family, the two would have to visit Pennhurst Mental Hospital’s Criminal Ward — where Creel had been kept since 1959.
It’s a story well known to fans of Netflix’s hit series “Stranger Things.” But while the iconic show’s Pennhurst Mental Hospital is set in the fictional Kerley County, Indiana, the structure itself is actually located in Mount Berry, Georgia.
To bring the fictional Pennhurst Mental Hospital to life, the “Stranger Things” crew took their cameras to Georgia’s Berry College. Founded in 1902, and just 80 miles from Atlanta, the college sits on one of the world’s largest campuses. While the school is known for its veterinary, law and medical graduates, the college also has a rich Hollywood history.
Netflix’s “Stranger Things” filmed at the school’s famous Ford buildings for the show’s fourth season, marking the 17th major appearance of the school in a show or film. 2002′s classic romance flick “Sweet Home Alabama” was shot at the nearby Oak Hill. In 2000, the iconic football movie “Remember the Titans” featured shots from the Ford Buildings, the Old Mill, Oak Hill and multiple locations in the Berry forest.
“Well, they are always stunned by the beauty of the Ford buildings, but you will not believe the number of producers from L.A. who stop to take pictures of the deer,” Campus film liaison Chris Kozelle said in a Berry College report. “I keep trying to tell them the deer aren’t going anywhere.”
The school, however, was quick to point out that there is no mental asylum on campus.
“In real life, the Ford Complex at Berry College houses the alumni building, the admissions offices, a residence hall and the music department’s recital hall,” the college’s report said. “The spaces seen in ‘Stranger Things’ are real offices, a dorm common room and gardens. But, on a daily basis, there is no criminal ward. This set was constructed to mimic the look of the Ford buildings, but it does not exist. In reality, however, there are a series of closed tunnels running underneath the Ford buildings, known on campus as the ‘catacombs.’ Though surrounded by campus lore, their main function is to house air conditioning ductwork for the buildings.”
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