Storybrooke

"Adoption Agent: I've never heard of Storybrooke. Regina: Oh, it's a hidden gem. [...] It's like a fairy tale."

- An adoption agent and Regina

Storybrooke, Maine is a Land Without Magic location featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. It first appears in the first episode of the first season of Once Upon a Time.

Notable Businesses
{{Hidden|List of Notable Businesses|

Businesses on Main Street
(also known as Budget Appliances)
 * A Monkey Tree
 * Any Given Sundae 1 2
 * Atlantic Twine & Net
 * Bon Retour
 * Bravura Appliances
 * Chop Shop3
 * Duperré & Hughes 3
 * Franklin's Towing & Salvage
 * George's Taverna
 * Granny's Diner
 * Gudrun
 * Hats 5 6
 * Hopper Psychiatry Office
 * It's POSH! 7
 * Jolene's Art & Crafts
 * Juvelisto
 * Kisamos Greek Taverna
 * La Tandoor Indian Restaurant 3
 * Marine Garage
 * Modern Fashions
 * Mr. Gold Pawnbroker & Antiquities Dealer 7


 * Neighbor's Five and Dime
 * Purbeck Shoe Store
 * The Rabbit Hole
 * Rowan Books 8
 * Sara's Old Fashioned Ice Cream
 * Sooters
 * Standard Clocks
 * Storybrooke Clinic
 * Storybrooke Coffee Co
 * Storybrooke Country Bread Bakery
 * Storybrooke Dental
 * Storybrooke Fish Shoppe
 * Storybrooke Free Public Library
 * Storybrooke Pet Shelter 1 10
 * Storybrooke Post Office
 * Storybrooke Savings & Loan
 * Storybrooke Shipyard
 * Storybrooke Sign Company 4
 * The Three Bears Day Spa 2
 * Unidentified dental clinic 6
 * Worthington's Haberdashery 10
 * Xyclo

Other Businesses
(later called Catch Kitchen Bar)
 * The Buck & Ear Bar and Grill
 * Cedar Fence Panels
 * Charthouse Restaurant
 * Convent of the Sisters of Saint Meissa
 * Craft Market
 * Dark Star Pharmacy
 * Dave's Fish & Chips
 * Diner No. 1
 * Downtown Bar & Grill
 * Downtown Bowling Hall
 * The "Everything" Notions Store 4
 * Fort Fish & Chips
 * Game of Thorns
 * Granny's Bed and Breakfast
 * Heringers
 * Jim's Pizza
 * Marco's Handyman & Woodworking Services
 * Nu-Tech Systems LTD
 * One-Stop Cobbling
 * Paradigm Shift Martial Arts Studio
 * Peter Peter's
 * PM Marine Diesel
 * Reynolds and Reynolds
 * Rod's Building Supplies
 * Royal Carpet Cleaning
 * Storybrooke Animal Feed
 * Storybrooke Barber Shop
 * Storybrooke Beautification Society
 * Storybrooke Boasthouse [sic] 4
 * Storybrooke Cannery
 * Storybrooke City Court
 * Storybrooke Cleaning Co.
 * Storybrooke Community Centre


 * Storybrooke Farm
 * Storybrooke Fish & Chips
 * Storybrooke General Hospital
 * Storybrooke Gifts
 * Storybrooke Graveyard
 * Storybrooke Harbor
 * Storybrooke Hardware & Paint
 * Storybrooke Heritage Farm 4
 * Storybrooke Hotel 4 9
 * Storybrooke Humane Society
 * Storybrooke Improvement Society
 * Storybrooke Liquor 9
 * Storybrooke Mining Co.
 * Storybrooke Museum
 * Storybrooke Mythological Society
 * Storybrooke Power Inc.
 * Storybrooke Priory 4
 * Storybrooke Produce Co. 4
 * Storybrooke Pumpkin Farm
 * Storybrooke Quality Services Inc.
 * Storybrooke Real Estate
 * Storybrooke Realty
 * Storybrooke Rotisserie & Grill
 * Storybrooke Sand Dollar Boutique
 * Storybrooke Schools
 * Storybrooke Theater 4
 * Storybrooke Town Hall
 * Storybrooke Women's Institute
 * Tapenade Bistro
 * Tony's
 * Twankey's [obscured]dney Baskey
 * Unidentified homeless shelter
 * Unidentified law office
 * Unidentified mining museum

}}

Ways to Access Storybrooke
Storybrooke can be accessed by other worlds in the following ways:
 * Via the Land Without Magic at the Storybrooke town border
 * Via the Underworld portal in the Heritage Park when the moon reaches its zenith every month (for a Fury)
 * Via the Underbrooke Clock Tower after Hades' heart restart once again. (closed)
 * By a magic wardrobe
 * Also, by using the ashes of the magic wardrobe combined with the waters of Lake Nostos (transports one to the Storybrooke Wishing Well)
 * Also, every other way that can be used in a magical location is possible due to the location being a magical one after the First Dark Curse.

Trivia
On-screen Notes=

On-screen Notes

 * The town's name is a pun on "story book".
 * Storybrooke functions as a consolidated city-county, a US municipality with the combined authority of a county and city. This is evidenced in various ways:
 * Graham, and later Emma Swan, is Sheriff of Storybrooke County : a county sheriff in the US is an elected official with the highest police authority in a county. Storybrooke's police cruisers also reflect this office.
 * Storybrooke's Sheriff also maintains the duties of a chief of police, a generally appointed official with the highest police authority in a city. This is also reflected on the cruisers, which bear the town's seal.
 * Mayor Regina Mills had the authority to appoint a candidate for election to the office of Sheriff. (Many Sheriff's elections are conducted with one candidate in the US, however they are generally not appointed). A city's chief of police is generally appointed by the city's mayor.
 * Despite Storybrooke being supposedly hidden from the rest of the world by various curses, it is not completely cut off, as the first season reveals that the Internet is available, as is both modern cell phone and smart phone/BlackBerry service (both despite the fact the town is supposed to be otherwise trapped in the 1980s). Regina is known to use a BlackBerry.
 * According to show creators Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, Storybrooke is meant to be timeless, which is why it has cell phones and computers, but also old phones and older cars. It is meant to look timeless, like a mix of everything.
 * Storybrooke's town arms is an apple tree.
 * Storybrooke's zip code is 04815.
 * Storybrooke seems to have no prison, as several guilties like Sidney Glass, Albert Spencer, Isaac Heller and Mr. Hyde were all put in the psychiatric ward in Storybrooke General Hospital.
 * The local morning show is called "Good Morning Storybrooke", and airs at 7:00 AM.
 * Storybrooke's radio station is called WOLF 98, and is the "home of the original party animals".
 * A rail line passes through or near the town, though it is not clear whether Storybrooke itself is visible to anyone aboard the train (though as the train sounds its whistle as it bears down on Cruella De Vil's vehicle, its inhabitants can be seen).

STORYBROOKE'S GEOGRAPHY
 * Boston seems to be the nearest city to the town because many characters who tried to leave were heading there.
 * According to Emma, Boston is four hours away from Storybrooke.
 * According to the marked route on the Darling brothers' map, Storybrooke appears to be in the location of Thomaston, Maine, a small seaport town west of Rockland.
 * Four hours may be an accurate time frame for a drive from Boston to Thomaston, taking delays and speed fluctuations into account.
 * An article in the Storybrooke Daily Mirror mentions a location called Sonnet Hill Orchard Park.
 * Another article mentions a location called Harestock Bridge.
 * Among the areas listed on the map of Storybrooke, are Pine Lake, Blythe Lake, Rowan Hill, Nightingale Village, Hunter's Grove, Alder Park, Edith's Orchard, Storybrooke Centennial Park, Cove Jaune, Storybrooke Harbor, Heron Island and Harper's Point.
 * Hunter's Grove is also mentioned in a newspaper ad in "Kansas".
 * Among the numerous streets listed on the map, is one called Westlake Street; a reference to Neil Westlake, a graphic designer and production staff member on the show.
 * Westlake Street also appears on Emma's GPS in "Enter the Dragon" (note that the first character is cropped off).
 * The Storybrooke map that Mr. Gold shows Emma mentions a location called Brock Lake.
 * The map that Hook finds in the pawnshop mentions a location called Villar's Point.

BUSINESS NOTES
 * The shops next to Granny's Diner undergo a few notable changes throughout the show:
 * In the Season One episodes "Pilot" (through a window), "The Thing You Love Most", "Snow Falls", "The Price of Gold", "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter", "True North", "7:15 A.M.", "Skin Deep" (mirrored in a store window), "What Happened to Frederick", as well as the flashbacks from 1983 in the Season Two episode "Welcome to Storybrooke", the 2001 flashbacks from the Season Three episode "Save Henry", and the 1993 flashbacks from the Season Six episode "Awake", the blue storefront next to Granny's Diner is called Worthington's Haberdashery. It is located in the former site of Artisans Galleria on Moncton Street in Steveston Village, where Once Upon a Time films. By the time of the Season One episode "Red-Handed", however, this storefront has become the Storybrooke Pet Shelter (more noticeable in "The Stable Boy") thanks to a false facade. The Pet Shelter is replaced by Any Given Sundae for Season Four, which later becomes The Three Bears Day Spa in Season Six. However, stock footage appears to have been used briefly in an exterior shot of the diner in the Season Four episode "Heroes and Villains", where part of the old Pet Shelter sign can be glimpsed, and in the Season Four episode "Lily", where the original Worthington Haberdashery is back.
 * The storefront next to the pet shelter changes as well, beginning as the actual La Tandoor restaurant in Steveston Village (which is now closed) in the Season One episodes "Pilot", "The Thing You Love Most", "Snow Falls", "The Price of Gold", "The Shepherd", "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter", "True North", "7:15 A.M.", "Skin Deep", and "What Happened to Frederick", and the 2001 flashbacks from the Season Three episode "Save Henry". The business becomes the Duperré & Hughes law firm in Season Two. In "Season Four, Chop Shop has also moved into the same building, but it is missing in the 1993 flashbacks from "Awake", since this episode takes place 19 years earlier. The original La Tandoor sign can also be seen in an exterior shot in stock footage in the Season Four episode "Lily".
 * La Tandoor and Worthington's Haberdashery can also be seen in an exterior shot in Underbrooke in "Ruby Slippers", where stock footage from the first season seems to have been used; even though previous episodes have established that the storefronts next to the Underbrooke Diner are the Underworld versions of Chop Shop, Duperré & Hughes and Any Given Sundae.


 * -|Production Notes=

Production Notes

 * Location filming of Storybrooke scenes takes place in Steveston Village, a suburb of the city of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. However, a portion of Storybrooke's main street has also been recreated within The Bridge Studios in Vancouver, primarily for use during night scenes, with the set for Granny's Diner located behind its facade.
 * Changing Steveston into Storybrooke takes about ten hours.
 * The Storybrooke Clock Tower does not exist within the real Steveston and is added to location filming using optical effects.
 * Sara's Ice Cream is a real-life Steveston Village business that features Once Upon a Time inspired ice cream names and flavors such as Once Upon a Thyme, Cinderella's Carriage, Entirely Emma, Mr. Gold and Grumpy's Road.


 * -|Cultural References=

Disney

 * A garden pinwheel of Disney's Tinker Bell appears on a house lawn in Storybrooke in "Pilot, "Operation Mongoose Part 1" and "The Price".
 * Advertisement for computers with the Encom logo from the movie Tron appears several times in the show:
 * Outside the Marine Garage in 1983.
 * When Storybrooke looses its power due to Elsa's ice wall.
 * When Emma leaves the diner in "Rocky Road".
 * As the shards from Ingrid's spell fall from the sky.
 * Just before Merida is about to look through Henry's storybook.
 * In the opening shot of the scene everyone returns to Storybrooke in "An Untold Story".
 * When Hook and Emma have their first date, the waiters are dressed like Tony, the kelner from Lady and the Tramp, and according to the menu, the restaurant itself is called Tony's. The candles in a bottle and the table cloths are similar to the ones seen in the famous movie scene.

Lost

 * The voice of Bill Gozen, the Storybrooke meteorologist, is one of Lost's creators, Damon Lindelof.
 * Regina's secret meeting in the woods takes place at Access Road 23. 23 is one of the Lost numbers.
 * Emma crashes her police cruiser into a street sign where the roads are numbered 4 and 23, two of the Lost numbers.
 * Henry' horse is in stall 8, which is the second Lost number.

Popular Culture

 * As Emma is driving through Storybrooke, the man on the radio says, "That was Left of the Dial by The Replacements"; a reference to a song on the rock band's 1985 album Tim.


 * -|Set Notes=

Set Dressing

 * Clocks are a subtle background theme in Storybrooke, where time was frozen for twenty-eight years. Henry, Mary Margaret and Mr. Gold all have a collection of clocks, and there is a business called Standard Clocks, whose storefront is filled with clocks. (This business and the storefront were added for the show, and do not exist in the real Steveston Village. )

MARITIME REFERENCES The seaside town of Storybrooke is filled with maritime props, in the form of model ships, ship paintings, ships in bottles, ship's rudders, sea shells, boats, books and businesses:
 * There are model ships in in Archie's office, the pawnshop, Marco's shop, the storefront of Duperré & Hughes (a business located next to Granny's Diner) the Sorcerer's Mansion and Mr. Gold's cabin.
 * There are ship paintings in Archie's hallway, the bedrooms and the lounge at the inn, the town hall (which has paintings of boats as well ), the Pawnshop and the Æsop's Tables bar.
 * There are several giant sea shells in one of Mary Margaret's school classrooms. A big shell and a bowl of shells are used as decorations in Archie's office.
 * There are ships in bottles in the pawnshop and the lounge at the inn. and
 * There is a miniature rudder in the pawnshop and on the mantelpiece in the lounge at the inn. The pawnshop also contains a real ship's rudder. Storybrooke Country Bread has a ship's steering wheel on display in the window. (This is an actual part of a real location known as Romania Country Bread.) There is an engraving of a ship's rudder on a cupboard in Regina's living room.
 * A canoe hangs from the ceiling in the pawnshop. An old, weathered row boat filled with plants is used as a decoration in the yard next to Granny's Diner. (In real life, the boat is sitting next to the Cannery Cafe, which doubles as Granny's Diner for the show. )
 * There is a nautical guide book, and a children's book with pop-up sailing ships, in the Storybrooke library.
 * The business next to the diner is called Atlantic Twine and Net, (a real location called Pacific Twine and Net ) and there is a business called the Marine Garage (a real location in Steveston Village ).
 * The chest where the Black Fairy is keeping Gideon's heart contains a box with a ship illustration on the lid.

'''REFERENCES TO THE ENCHANTED FOREST Storybrooke is filled with nods to where the inhabitants come from; the Enchanted Forest:
 * The inn has pink floral wallpaper upstairs and a flower-printed couch with matching armchairs in the lounge. There are two forest paintings in the room where Greg Mendell stays.
 * The diner has forest-themed wallpaper. The adjoining hallway has pink floral wallpaper.
 * The mayor's office and the town hall have birch-tree wallpaper. There are matching birch tree logs by the mayor's fireplace. A leaf-shaped bowl is sitting on a table in the mayor's office.
 * Archie has green stripes on his office walls tapestry. This is a subtle a reference to his former life as a cricket; crickets live among the grass. Above the green, there is wallpaper which depicts a forest at sundown. The trees are well above eye-level; fitting for a former cricket. Fittingly enough, at eye level, there are mushroom ornaments on Archie's bookshelves.
 * Tree and flower motifs are decorating the walls next to Mary Margaret's bed in her loft.
 * In the pawnshop, actual birch trunks are scattered around as dividers. The wall behind the main counter has crenelated "windows" which are full of paintings of trees and woods. Similar paintings can be seen in other parts of the shop. A leaf-print curtain separates the front room from the back of the shop.
 * The Nolan House has flower printed wallpaper.
 * One of the classrooms at the Storybrooke Elementary School has tree silhouettes and falling leaves on the windows.
 * The Storybrooke Pet Shelter has silvery forest wallpaper on the counter and behind the counter, and tree silhouettes on the window panes. Above the fish tank, there is a framed picture of a winter woods scene, with birch trees. Real birch tree trunks are used as decorations.
 * Real branches and birch trees are used as decorations at the town bar.
 * Jefferson has birch tree trunks in his living room. A room in his mansion has forest-themed wallpaper and floral curtains. There's a silver tree-like rack inside the hat room.
 * In the Storybrooke Free Public Library, there is a tree shaped mirror on the wall that hides the elevator doors.
 * The wallpaper in the room where Cora appears as a ghost in Regina's house, shows branches in a forest.
 * There is a tree-like decoration with green leaves in an alcove in the restaurant where Hook and Emma have their first date.
 * In Emma's house, there is a framed picture of a winter woods scene, which she uses to hide the stolen Squid Ink.

'''REFERENCES TO EMMA SWAN
 * When Hook arrives in Storybrooke, there are two swans gathered by his ship at the docks.
 * As Emma and Hook look out onto the bay, a white swan flies across the horizon.
 * When Emma and Regina confront the Evil Queen at the beach, three swans are swimming in the water.
 * Henry's bedside lamp has a shadow figure of a swan.
 * When David confronts Dr. Whale, the fence outside Granny's Diner is decorated with swan-shaped pumpkins.
 * The lounge of Granny's Bed and Breakfast has two porcelain figurines of a swan—a small one and a big one.


 * -|Goofs=

Goofs

 * When Emma and Henry first arrive in Storybrooke, Steveston Village, which doubles as the town of Storybrooke on the show, has not been redressed for some of the shots. The following real-life Steveston business names appear on-screen: Pacific Net & Twine, Romania Country Bread Serenity, Nikaido and Splash. In addition, the prop sign on the building that doubles as Mr. Gold's pawnshop for exterior scenes has not been put up. However, in a different shot, the sign on Serenity is gone (but not replaced), and Nikaido has been transformed into Standard Clocks. In "The Thing You Love Most", the local businesses have been redressed and transformed. Pacific Net & Twine has become Atlantic Twine & Net, Romania Country Bread has become Storybrooke Country Bread, Serenity has become Modern Fashions and Splash has become Neighbors.
 * In the outdoor scenes filmed in Steveston Village, the buildings located across the street from Granny's Diner do not precisely match the buildings seen from inside the diner, filmed inside a studio. In exterior scenes, on the left side of Storybrooke Country Bread, there is a blue wooden building, with a gap of approximately ten meters between the two buildings. In the interior scenes in "Snow Falls", "The Shepherd", "Desperate Souls", "7:15 A.M.", "Dreamy", "We Are Both", "Child of the Moon", "Tiny", "Welcome to Storybrooke", "And Straight On 'Til Morning", "Witch Hunt", "It's Not Easy Being Green", "The Jolly Roger", "The Apprentice", "Fall", "The Snow Queen", "Heroes and Villains", "Best Laid Plans", "Mother", "The Dark Swan", "Siege Perilous", "Only You", "A Bitter Draught", "The Other Shoe" "Where Bluebirds Fly" and "The Final Battle Part 2", there is a completely different building next to Storybrooke Country Bread. This building, which is part of a set on Stage 4 at The Bridge Studios in Burnaby, is brown and made of bricks, and there is no gap between the two buildings. Also, in "The Shepherd", "7:15 A.M." and "Witch Hunt", you can see a blue/grey wall behind Storybrooke Country Bread., which is part of the set at The Bridge Studios. In exterior scenes, there is no such wall.
 * The wrong building is a used book story called "Rowan Books".
 * The wrong building also appears in the Underworld version of Storybrooke in "Labor of Love".
 * When Graham offers Emma a new job, the sign on the building behind Emma says Storybrooke Coffee Co. However, when Graham gets out on the police car, you can clearly see a circular sign on the side of the building, which says "Steveston Coffee Co".
 * When Graham offers Emma the job as deputy sheriff, as he says, "Why don't you think about it", in the background, you can see the name "Steveston" on the sign of a business next to Kisamos Greek Taverna.
 * In "The Price of Gold", as Emma and Henry cross the street after leaving the loft, in the background, you can see a real-life business called Steveston WineMakers.
 * Curiously, the business next to it, which is known as Budget Appliances in real-life Steveston Village, has, unlike its neighbor, been renamed for this episode (it is now called Bravura Appliances ).
 * However, Bravura Appliances becomes the real Budget Appliances in "Best Laid Plans" and "The Price".
 * When the Wolf walks way from Graham, a window pane in the background says "Pacific Net & Twine", the real name of the Steveston business which doubles as Atlantic Twine & Net on the show.
 * The old pet shelter sign can be seen in an establishing shot of Granny's Diner in the Season Four episode "Heroes and Villains", even though Any Given Sundae moved into the pet shelter's premises in the season premiere, and was clearly established as still being there in episodes before and after.
 * In the Season Four episode "Lily", the businesses known as Worthington's Haberdashery and LaTandoor are seen next to Granny's Diner. However, Worthington's Haberdashery had moved out of the building midways through Season One and Any Given Sundae was clearly established as occupying these premises in episodes before and after; while Duperre & Hughes moved into La Tandoor's old premises back in Season Two, and was still there in episodes before and after "Lily".
 * After Mr. Gold and his team leave the Blanchard Loft in "Best Laid Plans", a direction sign pointing to "Steveston General Store - second hand goods" can be seen on a building. This is a real business in Steveston Village, the town which doubles as Storybrooke on the show.
 * In the 1993 flashbacks from "Awake", the business known as Duperre & Hughes can be seen next to Granny's Diner. However, as seen in "Broken", Duperre & Hughes did not move into these premises until after the Dark Curse was broken in 2012. Before that, these premises were occupied by the restaurant known as LaTandoor. This is most likely because LaTandoor, a real life business in Steveston Village which has since been closed down, could not be used when Steveston Village was redressed as Storybrooke for the 1993 flashback, so they had to use a fictional business instead.


 * -|Other Notes=

Other Notes

 * In the Class episode "For Tonight We Might Die", Tanya Adeola likens a tear in time and space which had appeared within Coal Hill Academy to "that town in Once Upon a Time".

Appearances
Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.