Supergirl and I like to go “exploring” by car–it’s something we can do even if my Personal Monster(tm) is acting the fool. This last weekend we took a medium length drive (SUV Therapy for those of you who’ve read Errant Gods–even though we now take the other car) and ended up in the real-world inspiration for Oneka Falls, NY, and thought it would be fun to share some pictures.

Let’s start with streets…

The story starts with Toby Burton, who lives on Mill Street in Oneka Falls, NY in 1979. The road also plays a prominent part in the 2007 section of the book.

Union Street…It intersects with Mill Street and Main Street, but its primary claim to fame is that both St. Genesius’ Sanctuary of the Holy Mother and Play Time live on that street. Union St. is the location for several major plot points, and all of the main characters spend time on Union.

Next, Main Street, with its single traffic light and row of old buildings, including Town Hall!

Shannon Bertram’s apartment in 2007 is right across the street, but in the real world, there is no apartment there–unless it’s invisible and stacked on top of a bank… Union Street intersects with Main at the far end of the block. Town Hall is the nearest building, and it’s where Jim Cartwright’s office is, as well as the Police Station. Mill Street intersects with main about 2 blocks behind the camera in this picture.

Now that we’re looking at buildings…

This is the real world inspiration for Saint Genesius’ Sanctuary of the Holy Mother. In the real world, it is a Spanish language Catholic church, but in Oneka Falls, the belfry is a major location during the climax. Shannon would have parked to the left of the camera during that scene.

Last, but not least:

Here it is…the abandoned church that gets turned into Play Time. This real-world building inspired the place in Oneka Falls one day when we were exploring last year. We turned down Union by mistake and this is the view from the corner. We both thought the place looked a little creepy (though it isn’t) and thought it would be an excellent location for Oneka Falls. There are words above the door in real-life, and the second word is “Time,” but since this is a real place I wanted to change the name. The name in the book works well with the plot and intent of the place in 2007 Oneka Falls. The woods behind the church building in the picture are where Drew Reid takes his panicky night-run through the woods.

If you want to find out more about Oneka Falls, take a look at the novel’s page.

That’s it for this time! I hope you’ve enjoyed this small tour of Oneka Falls 🙂

Thanks for looking,

Erik