DERRYA literary atlas of Stephen King’s IT · reconstructed from the novel

Built from the novel

This is a reasoned reconstruction of fictional geography, not a canonical or surveyed map. It is inspired by Stephen King’s novel IT, and the novel’s own descriptions are its only literary source. Film and television geography has not been used.

The town plan combines both main periods and the historical interludes. Dates in the place cards distinguish former sites and replacements; the map does not depict a single historical day. It covers surface geography only.

Open the map of Derry92 places, drawn from the novel

How sure is each pin

Every place on the map carries one of four marks. They say how much of its position comes from the text and how much the atlas worked out.

MarkWhat the text givesWhat the atlas addsExamplePlaces
Named in the novel The street, a neighbour or a named site The exact lot and the building outline 12 Derry Public Library 48 places
Inferred Routes, distances, directions Which street, and the house itself 6 Ben Hanscom home 26 places
Proposed Only a description The whole position, as a plausible option 8 Richie Tozier home 10 places
No location That the place exists Nothing: no point is drawn Listed, not drawnU3 Derry Town Hall 8 places

The novel

Stephen King, IT (1986). References in the place cards name chapters and interludes. No text of the novel is reproduced on this website.

Where the book does not settle the geometry

The map prioritises neighbourhoods, routes, bridge order and water flow. It reconciles the downtown junction descriptions and places the Standpipe west-southwest of the centre. Contours, local road bends, most footprints and the vegetation pattern are illustrative. In the initial reconstruction, the canal measured approximately 3.37 km in this reconstruction, including 0.80 km under downtown; the novel gives about 3.2 km overall. A 0.63 km open reach then joined the Penobscot. That lower limit is inferred.

The relief is conceptual: contours and spot heights are approximate and not measured.

Open sources consulted

Seven outside references. Each is used only for what its role allows: none of them supplies a street plan or a coordinate.

  1. W1 Stephen KingIT: InspirationAuthor's explanation: Bangor's canal and a childhood library in Stratford informed the novel. Used to establish multiple real inspirations, not street coordinates. Inspiration
  2. W2 Stephen KingFair Extension: InspirationAuthor's general statement connecting Derry and Bangor. No places from the other story were added. Inspiration
  3. W3 City of BangorStormwaterPrimary background for urban runoff and tributaries. Used only to check the plausibility of the reconstructed surface landscape. Plausibility check
  4. W4 City of BangorKenduskeag Stream Parkway mapOfficial real-world map inspected as an urban river-corridor analogue. Its modern street geometry, scale and landmarks were not transferred to Derry. Analogue only
  5. W5 Bangor Water DistrictThomas Hill StandpipePrimary architectural analogue. The real tank differs from the novel's stated dimensions and history; book details have priority. Analogue only
  6. W6 Bangor Public LibraryAugustus Koch, Bangor 1875Historical cartographic context and catalog record. Not used as a measured base map. Context
  7. W7 Alissa BurgerMapping Derry (15 December 2023)Source audit: describes maps mixing the novel, screen adaptations and other novels. Those maps were excluded as geographic authority. Excluded as geography

Using the map

  • Move

    Drag the map, or use ← → ↑ ↓

  • Zoom

    Wheel, pinch, the + − buttons, or + −

  • Measure

    The ruler measures straight lines in the reconstruction, not travel distances

  • Close

    Esc clears a measurement or closes a place card