Places
Many family businesses are passed down from generation to generation in Hill Valley. As a result, the city changes but remains similar from one generation to the next, as businesses are updated but rarely change. These recurring elements were a deliberate choice on the part of the filmmakers. The production designer of Back to the Future Part II, Rick Carter, is quoted in a DVD extra as saying, "The future is built on the present." Director Robert Zemeckis adds that the continuity between the different eras in Hill Valley's history is an example of the adage, "the more things change, the more they stay the same".
The following is a list of such places. When a place is not seen or mentioned in a movie, it is marked unknown. When a place is not generally changed since previous era, it is marked The same. Some buildings shown in 1885 scenes are actually located further down the street in an area not shown in the first two movies.
| place № | 1885 | 1955 | 1985 | 1985 alternative | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hill Valley Courthouse and Clock Tower (under construction) | Hill Valley Courthouse | Department of Social Services | Biff Tannen's Pleasure Paradise Casino & Hotel The Biff Tannen Museum |
Hill Valley Courthouse Mall |
| 2 | Nothing | Town Theater | Town Theater (as a church) | Unknown (possibly a porn theater) | Hill Valley Museum of Art A Bellman Retrospective |
| 3 | Nothing | Holt's Diner | Elmo's Rib Cafe | Unknown | (part of the Hill Valley Museum) |
| 4 | Honest Joe Statler's Fine Horses (in different location - this spot actually empty) | Statler Studebaker | Statler Toyota | PIG Mart | Pontiac Sales and Hover Conversions |
| 5 | Wells Fargo & Co | Ruth's Frock Shop | Goodwill Industries | Tanya Exotic Sex Goddess | Hyatas All Natural Earth-Grown Fruits |
| 6 | Nothing | Jacobson & Field Attorneys at Law | Loans | Bad Rap Bail Bonds | Simulex |
| 7 | Building under construction | Western Auto Stores | Empty Store (displaying Re-Elect Mayor Goldie Wilson signage) | Bondage | Sight Sound and Mind |
| 8 | Honest Joe Statler's Finest Horses | Bluebird Motel | Al's Tattoo Art (out of business, for sale) |
Video Nude Hardcore Movies Pawn Shop |
Unknown |
| 9 | Nothing | Elite Barber Shop | Empty Store (Sign on window saying "We Moved to Twin Pines Mall") | Bangkok Sauna & Asian Massage | Mr. Perfect All-Natural Steroids |
| 10 | Nothing | Hill Valley Stationers | Cupid's Adult Book Store | Hell Hole XXX | Eclipse - Contemporary & Traditional Lighting Store |
| 11 | Nothing | Zale's Jewelers | Abrams Brokerage Corporation | Hardcore X | Pizza Hut |
| 12 | Unknown | J.D. Armstrong Realty | Loans | Peeparama | True Blues |
| 13 | Unknown | Ask Mr. Foster Travel Service | Ask Mr. Foster Travel Service | Naughty and Naked | Uniglobe Travel |
| 14 | Marshal's Office | Bank of America | Bank of America | Naughty XXX | Hill Valley Transit bus stop (Second floor advertising Goldie Wilson Hover Conversions) |
| 15 | Palace Saloon (setting before Lou's Cafe) | Lou's Cafe | Lou's Fitness Aerobics Center (originally Lou's Cafe in 1955) | War Zone Bar | Cafe 80's (originally Lou's Cafe in 1955 and Lou's Fitness Center in 1985) |
| 16 | Unknown | Roy's Record Store | The Third Eye | Time to Shoot Photo Store | Blast From The Past Antique Store |
| 17 | Docs Blacksmith shop (different building) | Texaco full-service station | Texaco gas station/food mart | (area cluttered with piles of junk furniture and other garbage) | 7-Eleven (first floor) and Texaco automated Havoline station (second floor) |
| 18 | Unknown | Hal's Bike Shop | Hog Heaven | Unknown | The Bot Shoppe |
| 19 | Livery and Feed Stable | Lawrence Building | Broadway Florist | Unknown | Hill Valley Surrogate Parenting Center |
| 20 | Building under construction | Essex Theater (as a mainstream movie house) | Essex Theater (as an adult movie house showing "Orgy, American Style XXX") | Hill Valley Theater of Live Sex Acts | Holomax Theater (Now showing mainstream films again) |
| 21 | Hill Valley Telegraph | Building with Sherwin-Williams Paint billboard sign | Building with Sherwin-Williams Paint billboard sign | Toxic Waste Reclamation Plant | Unknown (office building displaying Skyway Information) |
| 22 | Nothing | Lyon Estates (under development) | Lyon Estates | Lyon Estates (rough neighborhood) | Lyon Estates Parkland |
| 23 | (empty land near ravine) | (farmland near Clayton Ravine) | Hilldale (new housing development with 1980s-style homes and described as being a rather affluent part of Hill Valley.) | Unknown | Hilldale (now a rough neighborhood) |
| 24 | Hill Valley School (in different building than later schools) | Hill Valley High School | Hill Valley High School | Remains of Hill Valley High School (burned down six years earlier) | Hill Valley High School |
| 25 | Unknown | Unknown | Hideaway Bar | Dee Dee's Delight Bar | Fusion Bar |
| 26 | Hill Valley Telegraph | Sherwin-Williams Paints | Sherwin-Williams Paints | Unknown | Ice Cream Clone |
| 27 | McFly Farm | Twin Pines Ranch | Twin Pines Mall (Lone Pine Mall upon return from the timeline of events Marty McFly created in 1955) |
Lone Pine Mall | Lone Pine Mall |
| 28 | Nothing | Brown Mansion | Doc Brown's garage/Burger King | Doc Brown's garage | Unknown |
Read more about this topic: Hill Valley (Back To The Future)
Famous quotes containing the word places:
“But those rare souls whose spirit gets magically into the hearts of men, leave behind them something more real and warmly personal than bodily presence, an ineffable and eternal thing. It is everlasting life touching us as something more than a vague, recondite concept. The sound of a great name dies like an echo; the splendor of fame fades into nothing; but the grace of a fine spirit pervades the places through which it has passed, like the haunting loveliness of mignonette.”
—James Thurber (1894–1961)
“All places are alike,
And every earth is fit for burial.”
—Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593)
“Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way.
They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of
drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the
Lord,”
—Bible: Hebrew Judges (l. V, 10–11)