Where Was A Christmas Story Filmed?

The Short Answer

A Christmas Story was filmed mainly in Cleveland, Ohio and Toronto, Ontario. The Parker family home exterior and the Higbee's department store scenes were shot on location in Cleveland, while interiors and additional scenes used Toronto soundstages and sites around the Ontario city. The story is set in fictional Hohman, Indiana, but almost nothing was filmed there.

A Christmas Story, released in 1983, tells the story of Ralphie Parker's campaign for a Red Ryder BB gun in fictional Hohman, Indiana, a town based on writer Jean Shepherd's hometown of Hammond, Indiana. The film's production history, however, points north and east: director Bob Clark split filming between Cleveland, Ohio and Toronto, Ontario.

Clark reportedly scouted 20 cities before settling on Cleveland, largely because of its Higbee's department store, which appears prominently in the film. Toronto handled the rest, supplying soundstages for interiors plus a string of practical locations, from a schoolyard flagpole to a bridge where Ralphie utters his famous 'fudge' line.

Every Location At A Glance

Location	Where	What was filmed	Access
A Christmas Story House (Parker family home)	Cleveland, United States	Exterior of Ralphie's house and some backyard scenes	Ticketed
Higbee's Department Store / Public Square	Cleveland, United States	Christmas parade, window shopping for BB gun, Santa visit scenes	Free to see
Victoria School	St. Catharines, Canada	Schoolyard, flagpole scene, interior school scenes	Outside only
Cherry Street Bridge	Toronto, Canada	Tire change scene where Ralphie says 'fudge'	Free to see
Bo Ling's Chop Suey Palace (former site)	Toronto, Canada	Chinese restaurant Christmas dinner scene	Outside only
Christmas tree lot (Queen Street West)	Toronto, Canada	Buying the Christmas tree scene	Free to see
Back alley (Toronto)	Toronto, Canada	Ralphie chased by bullies scene	Free to see

Filming Locations Map

7 locations. The map loads when it scrolls into view.

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors

Location By Location

The exterior of Ralphie's house and some backyard scenes were filmed at this Tremont neighborhood home in Cleveland. It was later purchased on eBay in 2004 for $150,000 and restored for hundreds of thousands more to match the film. Today it operates as a ticketed museum, open daily 10am to 5pm, with tours costing $20 and overnight stays available. It closes on major holidays.

Cleveland's Public Square hosted the Christmas parade, the window shopping scene where Ralphie eyes the BB gun, and the visit to Santa. The parade scene was famously filmed at 3 a.m. The square remains public and freely accessible, though the former Higbee's building is now part of a casino complex. Visitors can walk the same spaces where the holiday crowds gathered on camera.

The schoolyard, the flagpole scene, and interior school scenes were filmed at Victoria School in St. Catharines, Ontario. Students from the school served as extras and received 1940s-style haircuts for the production. The building now functions as a women's shelter, so access is exterior only, but the facade remains viewable from the street for fans retracing Ralphie's route to class.

The tire change scene, in which Ralphie blurts his famous 'fudge' line while helping his father, was filmed on the Cherry Street Bascule Bridge in Toronto's Port Lands. It remains an active bridge, so there is no specific filming access, but it can be viewed by anyone passing through the area. It also appears as a stop on film location tours of the city.

The Chinese restaurant Christmas dinner scene, where the Parker family is served duck by a singing staff, was filmed at a Toronto location now occupied by a French restaurant at 744 Gerrard St E. The chop suey palace itself no longer exists, so access is exterior only. Fans can still stand outside the address where one of the film's warmest endings played out.

The scene where the Parker family buys their Christmas tree was filmed on Queen Street West in Toronto, near St. Patrick's Square. Today the site functions as a parking lot area, so nothing of the original tree lot remains. It is public space, and film fans walking Toronto's downtown west side can pass by it easily while visiting other locations from the production.

The scenes of Ralphie being chased by bullies were filmed in general alley locations around Toronto. No single alley is singled out for preservation, and the addresses used were ordinary city passages. They remain public and walkable, but visitors should not expect signage or markers. This entry is best treated as a backdrop detail of the production rather than a destination.

Where It Is Set Versus Where It Was Filmed

The film is set in the fictional town of Hohman, Indiana, based on Hammond, Indiana, where Jean Shepherd grew up. Filming, however, took place primarily in Cleveland, Ohio for exteriors, including the Parker house and Higbee's, and in Toronto, Ontario for interiors and other scenes. Nothing of consequence was shot in Indiana, so fans hoping to visit real locations should plan for Ohio and Ontario instead.

The Studio Side

Interior scenes and additional shots were filmed on soundstages in Toronto, which are not open to visitors. This division of labor was typical of the era, pairing American location shooting with Canadian studio work. The practical Cleveland and Toronto locations listed above are the surviving, visitable evidence of the production.

Tours That Visit These Locations

One bookable experience connects directly to these locations: a half-day film and television locations tour of Toronto that includes a stop at the Cherry Street Bascule Bridge, the site of the tire change scene.

Toronto Film Locations Half-Day Tour

Action Film and Television Locations Half Day Tour in Toronto

This half-day Toronto tour covers film and television locations across the city, including the Cherry Street Bascule Bridge where Ralphie's father changes the tire. It suits travelers who want a guided route through Toronto's screen history without arranging each stop independently.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can you visit the house from A Christmas Story?

Yes. The Parker family home in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood is a restored museum open daily 10am to 5pm. Tours cost $20, overnight stays are available, and it closes on major holidays.

Was A Christmas Story filmed in Indiana?

No. Although the story is set in fictional Hohman, Indiana, based on Hammond, Indiana, filming took place in Cleveland, Ohio and Toronto, Ontario.

Why did the filmmakers choose Cleveland?

Director Bob Clark scouted 20 cities before choosing Cleveland, largely because of the Higbee's department store, which features in the parade, window shopping, and Santa scenes.

Was the snow in the film real?

No natural snow fell in Cleveland during filming, so snow was trucked in from ski resorts to create the winter scenes.

Can you see the school from the flagpole scene?

Victoria School in St. Catharines, Ontario, where the flagpole and school scenes were filmed, is now a women's shelter. The exterior can be viewed from the street, but there is no interior access.

Is the Chinese restaurant from the Christmas dinner scene still there?

No. The site of the fictional Bo Ling's Chop Suey Palace in Toronto, at 744 Gerrard St E, is now a French restaurant. Only the exterior location can be seen today.

Cleveland offers the most concentrated A Christmas Story experience, anchored by the restored Parker house museum and the Public Square settings, while Toronto and nearby St. Catharines reward travelers with the school, the bridge, and several street-level locations. A half-day Toronto film locations tour adds the Cherry Street Bridge stop for those who prefer a guided approach.