Fargo (1996): Where Was the Movie Filmed?

of Fargo (1996): Where Was the Movie Filmed? Noor Malhotra
Updated August 2, 2022

Over the years, ‘Fargo’ has garnered a cult status due to its fantastic combination of dark comedy and immersive cinematography sprinkled with aspects of gore. With an ensemble cast that includes Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, and Peter Stormare, it follows the story of a car salesman, Jerry Lundegaard, who gets his wife kidnapped as he is in desperate need of money. He plans to extort it out of his father-in-law. But things don’t work out according to his vision, and soon, a Minnesota police chief enters the picture after a few homicides have occurred. Here are the locations where ‘Fargo’ was filmed!

Fargo 1996 Movie Filming Locations 

The Coen Brothers production has been filmed in Minnesota and North Dakota. The Fargo-Moorhead Convention & Visitors Bureau houses original scripts and also the woodchipper (amongst other props) that was employed in the infamous scene. Moreover, several people even searched for the buried cash in Brainerd owing to the true story declaration at the beginning of the film. Hang tight because we have a lot of locations to discuss in this article.

Minnesota

Jerry first meets with Carl and Gaear in a bar called The King of Clubs. This was situated in northeast Minneapolis, Minnesota. However, in 2003, the building was torn down. Wade Gustafson, Jerry’s father-in-law, owns a car dealership that is actually Wally McCarthy Oldsmobile in Richfield. The Blue Ox Motel and truck stop is located in South St. Paul.

The hometown of the Coen Brothers also made an appearance when they showed Embers Restaurant. It is where Jerry talks to his father-in-law about the ransom, and its exact address is 7525 Wayzata Boulevard, St. Louis Park. Another restaurant was featured in the film – The Lakeside Club. Although it is now closed, it was located at Mahtomedi. José Feliciano’s concert was actually shot at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre.

The May Township was also used as a filming location, and it was where the kidnappers’ Moose Lake hideout was situated. Furthermore, the interiors of the Brainerd Police Department were filmed in the Edina City Hall, located on 801 W. 50th Street. The Minneapolis Club Parking Ramp (on 8th Street and 3rd Avenue) was also used to capture the ransom drop.

The motel where Jerry is eventually captured is the Hitching Post Motel in Forest Lake. Apart from these locations, the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, Brainerd, Stillwater, Hallock, and Willermie are also featured on the list of venues used for filming.

North Dakota

Since the film was actually shot in one of the hottest winters, the snowfall was quite low in the vicinity. Therefore, the snowy exteriors were captured in Fargo and Grand Forks. It must be noted that apart from this, the city of Fargo was not actually used for filming any scenes. We see a 24-foot statue of Paul Bunyan in the movie. This was situated in Bathgate, and to be more specific, it was along 101st Street NE, near the corner of 143rd Avenue NE. Reportedly, this statue is somewhere in Wisconsin now. The scene where the money is buried in the snow was taken in Grafton.

Read More: Where Was Fargo Season 4 Filmed?

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