Stephen King Tour in Maine: Bangor Locations from It & Pet Sematary

Bangor is Derry.

For millions of Constant Readers, the streets of Bangor, Maine, are layered with the fictional geography of Stephen King’s most famous haunted town. King lived in Bangor for decades, and the city’s canals, standpipes, and Victorian mansions seeped directly into his work.

This guide takes you to the real-world locations that inspired It, Pet Sematary, Insomnia, and more. It also tells you, honestly, which ones you cannot go inside.

The House on West Broadway

The striking red Victorian mansion on West Broadway, with its wrought-iron fence of bats, spiders and a three-headed dragon, is probably the best-known writer’s house in America. It is also a private property on an ordinary residential street, and it is closed to the public.

• The history: King bought the house in 1980. On his own site, King’s biography records that the Kings purchased a second home in Bangor that year while keeping their Center Lovell house.
• What it is now: The Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation operates from the property, and the Stephen Edwin King Archives are held there. The Foundation states plainly that the archives “are not open to the general public” and that “credentialed scholars can apply for access.”
• There is no museum and there are no house tours. SK Tours of Maine answers both questions directly on its FAQ page: articles claiming that tours of the King home are available, or that the house is becoming a museum, are wrong.
• The writers’ residency is next door, not in the house. The Foundation’s writers’ residency offers ten-day residencies in the Brown Mansion, a Second Empire home the Foundation describes as located next door to the King house. Residencies are by application, not by visit.

Please treat this as somebody’s home, because it is. SK Tours puts it well on its own FAQ page: approaching the King family is “actively discouraged,” and “let’s give the Kings a little privacy.” Do not knock, do not ring, and do not stand about outside. If you want to see the house, the sensible way is from the bus on a narrated tour that keeps moving.

The Standpipe (The Standpipe in It)

Location: Thomas Hill, Bangor

This shingled water tower dominates the Bangor skyline. In It, this is the Standpipe where Stan Uris sees the drowned boys.

• The structure: Bangor Water records that the standpipe was built in 1897 to store water for fire-fighting and regulate downtown pressure, and that it has been in continuous use ever since. The riveted wrought-iron tank holds 1,500,000 gallons and stands 50 feet high and 75 feet across. The wooden shell around it is 85 feet in diameter and 110 feet high.
• The promenade is at the top, not the base. Bangor Water describes a promenade deck encircling the top of the structure, 12 feet wide and 280 feet in circumference, reached by an internal staircase between the tank and the wooden shell. It is not a public walkway you can stroll around at ground level.
• Tours are currently suspended. As of 5 September 2026, Bangor Water’s standpipe page states that “due to upkeep and repairs that are being planned and undertaken to ensure the Thomas Hill Standpipe continues to serve our community for years to come, all Tour dates have been cancelled.” Check the page before you plan a trip around it.

The standpipe is a National Historic Landmark and an American Water Landmark. The hill it sits on gives you the view even when the tower is shut.

The Barrens (Kenduskeag Stream)

Location: Kenduskeag Stream Trail, Bangor

The “Barrens” in It, the tangled wilderness where the Losers Club builds their dam and fights the rock war, is real enough. The Kenduskeag Stream cuts right through the heart of Bangor.

• The trail: The City of Bangor describes the Kenduskeag Stream trail as groomed, good for running and walking, with picnic areas along it. Parking is on Harlow Street, just before and after the crossing of the stream.
• Downtown: The city describes the Kenduskeag Stream Parkway as threading through downtown to the Waterfront, landscaped and running along the Penobscot River. Downtown, the stream flows through concrete canals. These are the canals where Ben Hanscom sees the mummy on the ice in It.

Mount Hope Cemetery (Pet Sematary)

Location: 1048 State Street, Bangor

Mount Hope is beautiful, rolling and atmospheric, and it is old. The cemetery calls itself America’s second garden cemetery, established in 1834, three years after Mount Auburn. The City of Bangor puts it at over 300 acres and more than 30,000 burials.

• The film connection: The Maine Film Office lists Bangor among the Maine locations used for the 1989 Pet Sematary, alongside Hancock, Bucksport, Sedgwick, Acadia National Park and Ellsworth. Two other King films on that list also shot in Bangor: Creepshow 2 (1987) and Graveyard Shift (1990), and The Langoliers (1994) used Bangor International Airport.
• Gate hours, from the cemetery’s rules: May through mid-September, 7:30 AM to 7:30 PM. From mid-September to the end of October, closing hours are posted at the entrances, with the Lower State Street and main Northern Division entrances open until 7:30 PM and other entrances closing at 4:00 PM. November through March, 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM.
• It is private property and a working cemetery. The rules require courteous and respectful conduct, cap the speed limit at 15 mph, and prohibit drones, skateboards, e-scooters and remote-control vehicles. Walkers, runners and pedal bikes are fine.
• Guided walks: The Bangor Historical Society runs Mount Hope Cemetery walking tours at $12 per person, meeting at the Superintendent’s Lodge at 1048 State Street. Tickets must be bought ahead and tours are capped at 25 people.

The cemetery is not the “Pet Sematary” of the novel. That setting draws on Orrington, near Bangor, where the Kings lived in 1978 and 1979.

The Paul Bunyan Statue (It)

Location: Paul Bunyan Park, 515 Main Street, Bangor

Bangor was, in the city’s own words, the “Lumber Capital of the World” for many years, and this giant is the monument to it. The City of Bangor records that the statue was built in 1959 by J. Normand Martin and stands 31 feet tall.

• The scare: In It, the statue comes to life and attacks Richie Tozier.
• The photo op: The city calls it one of the most iconic photo opportunities in Bangor, and it is free, public and outdoors.

Shawn T. Mansfield Stadium

Location: 115 13th Street, Bangor

A ballpark in the middle of the city, and the clearest single piece of evidence for what the Kings have given Bangor. The City of Bangor records that after King, David Mansfield, Neil Waterman and Ron St. Pierre coached the 1989 Bangor West all-star team to a state championship, “Stephen and Tabitha King were generous enough to build a new $1.2 million stadium that they then donated to the City of Bangor.”

The stadium is named for Shawn Trevor Mansfield, David Mansfield’s son, who had cerebral palsy and died at 14. A plaque at the entrance dedicates it to him and to all the other boys who never got a chance to play baseball. Today it is the home field for Bangor High School, Bangor Junior and Senior League and the Bangor Comrades American Legion team, and it hosted the Senior League World Series from 2002 to 2016.

Taking a Tour

SK Tours of Maine is the operating King tour in Bangor, and it is still trading. Note that its old sktours.com domain is now parked and offered for sale, so use sk-tours.com.

• The Derry, Maine Tour: $62.50 per person, a narrated bus tour lasting 2.5 to 3 hours. All ages, though the company suggests a private tour for families with children under ten.
• Private tours: from $200 for one to eight people. From November to March, off-peak private tours are $200 for the first four passengers and $50 for each additional passenger, up to six.
• Departure: all tours leave from SK Tours headquarters at 872 Hammond Street, Bangor. Times vary seasonally and the booking calendar shows live availability.
• The gift shop is open noon to 5 PM daily except Wednesday from April to October, and by appointment from November to March.
• What it does not include: access to the King house. SK Tours states this on its own booking page.

Prices and hours checked on the operator’s site on 5 September 2026.

Beyond Bangor

King’s Maine is much wider than Derry. These are the places his own biography records:

• Durham: where his mother brought the family when King was eleven, and where he went to grammar school. This is his boyhood town, not a Pet Sematary location.
• Lisbon Falls: Lisbon Falls High School, where he graduated in 1966.
• Orono: the University of Maine, where he wrote a column for The Maine Campus and met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of Fogler Library.
• Hampden: he began teaching English at Hampden Academy in the autumn of 1971.
• North Windham: renting a house on Sebago Lake over the winter of 1973 to 1974, he wrote ‘Salem’s Lot in a small room in the garage.
• Bridgton: the Kings bought a home in the Lakes Region in 1975. King finished The Stand there, and The Dead Zone was written in Bridgton.
• Center Lovell: bought in December 1977 and still one of the two Maine homes the Kings use today.
• Orrington: the Kings moved here in 1978 so King could teach creative writing at Orono, returning to Center Lovell in the spring of 1979. This is the ground Pet Sematary grew out of.

King’s site states that he and Tabitha now spend winters in Florida and the rest of the year at their Bangor and Center Lovell homes. All of these are private houses. None of them are open to visitors.

Practical Tips for Your Tour

• Timing: the public sites, the standpipe hill, the Kenduskeag trail, Mount Hope and the Paul Bunyan statue, make a comfortable half day.
• Parking: downtown Bangor has metered parking and some free lots. Park on Harlow Street for the Kenduskeag Stream trail.
• Respect: several places on any King itinerary are private property, a working cemetery, or somebody’s home. Stay on public ground, keep moving on residential streets, and take the guided tour if you want the stories.
• Food and drink: downtown Bangor has plenty. Geaghan’s Pub and Brewery at 570 Main Street is a long-standing local one.

The King Legacy

Stephen King has not just written about Maine. He has given back to it. The Bangor ballpark is the visible piece, but the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, a family foundation set up in 1986, funds community-based work across Maine, with what it describes as a strong interest in libraries, literacy and information access. His work put Bangor on the literary map and brought visitors who might never otherwise have found this corner of the state.

Walking these streets, you begin to understand why King’s horror works so well. Maine has genuine darkness, harsh winters, isolation, dying mill towns, and the weight of history. King took that authentic backdrop and added monsters. The monsters may be fictional, but the setting is absolutely real.

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“The place had a hold on him… It was Derry that was his town, now and forever.”, It