Locations in Squeak

Caution! These notes may contain some mild spoilers!

Image provided by Gorup de Besanez.

Baxter Springs is a real place. It’s a small town on Route 66 in Kansas, right in the southeast corner. I lived there for three years as a kid. A lot of the locations I mentioned actually exist or existed. I went to Lincoln Elementary School, which really did have a rock wall, a bridge, and a stream on the playground. Sadly, the rock wall itself is no more, though the bridge and walkway is still there. The playground equipment was also as described... and as mentioned in the epilogue, most of that was removed. But the only thing is the rock wall is no more, and likely had been torn down at the time the epilogue took place. But I needed it to still be there for that final scene, and maybe it still was there in 1999. I only know it’s not there now. The backstop where Celeste first took Briz after she saved her is also gone.

Simple Simon’s pizza was also a real place, and was owned by the grandfather of a classmate of mine. Yes, his name was Casey, but that’s the subject of another article. It had two video games, one was Donkey Kong, and the other was Pac-Man. There was also a nice jukebox that I always loved to pick songs. I loved that place! The building is still there, but it’s no longer Simple Simon’s; it’s now a Mexican restaurant.

The Route 66 roller rink that Celeste skated in during the birthday part scene existed, but it is no longer there. The mall is still there (though the popcorn shop is not, sadly).

Now the soda shop. There was no Cherry Pop’s Soda shop, nor is there now. However, I based it slightly on a pharmacy in Baxter called “Monarch Pharmacy” because they do also serve cream sodas and have a countertop and places to sit, but it’s not vintage style. And if you drive on Route 66, you’ll go right by it.

There really is a red caboose and an army tank on the premises of the museum, as well as a little playground and merry-go-round near there.