What city is Mayor of Kingstown based on? Details explored

Mayor of Kingstown is set in a fictional city called Kingstown, Michigan. The place is described as a "company town" whose economy revolves around incarceration. Therefore, the narrative also follows subplots around prisons and the guard-inmate relationship. Kingstown is not a real city in Michigan; it is a fictional town created by the makers of Mayor of Kingstown. The entire character and background of the city are built as per the story that needs to be unfolded for the show.

According to reports, the creator draws inspiration from a Canadian city in Ontario, spelled as Kingston. The show's co-creator and actor, Hugh Dillon, grew up in Kingston, Ontario, which had a very large number of prisons. Read on to know more about where does Mayor of Kingstown is based.

What city is Mayor of Kingstown based on?

As mentioned, the Kingstown shown in the show Mayor of Kingstown is a completely fictional city that has a lot of prisons. However, Hugh Dillon, the show's co-creator, also revealed that he grew up in a similar town by the name Kingston in Ontario, Canada, which has worked as a template for him to shape the character of the fictional town.

The history of Kingston is connected to having multiple penitentiaries and a familiar prison-town economy, just like what Dillon has experienced in his life.

"I can tell you this, I grew up in a town with 9 penitentiaries, a maximum, a medium, and a women's [penitentiary], minimum security," said Dillon while speaking with Newsweek.

The show was filmed in real institutions in Ontario, but the stories shape the city to fit Taylor Sheridan's world and vision. Taylor and Dillon chose Kingston, Ontario, to be an inspiration because the city historically had multiple prisons clustered together.

Moreover, this Canadian city has an economy that is entirely shaped around incarceration. The vibe, corruption, tensions, and prison town ecosystem, all of it is developed keeping this town as the inspiration.

Why did the makers make a fictional town in Mayor of Kingstown a fictional town?

Taylor Sheridan wanted creative freedom to explore several themes like violence, corruption, and mass incarceration. Through this system and unique economy, the makers wanted to create scope for some morally grey areas and systemic failures. Moreover, talking about these issues while basing them on a fictional town also keeps the makers away from naming real institutions and further political conflicts.

A fictional town, therefore, let the makers exaggerate and dramatize the industrial way prisons run while also giving it a real grounding deep into the real-world problems. Reports state that Dillon and Sheridan had started developing the idea over a decade ago for the show, and Dillon has expressed his feelings about living in a prison town.

“Growing up in a place like that does something to you,” Dillon tells while speaking with TV Inside

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Kingston, Ontario was earlier called King's town, which confused fans whether it was a fictional or non-fictional town.

Therefore, we can conclude that Kingstown is fictional, but the world it depicts is absolutely real, taken directly from Kingston, Ontario’s prison-centered history and economy.

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