Arcadia Bay

"So maybe Arcadia Bay will actually turn out to be the island
of treasure and adventure I've been looking for..."

— Max in her diary on August 18, 2013

Template:Infobox location

Arcadia Bay is a picturesque seaside town in Oregon, United States. It was originally inhabited and founded by Native Americans, as mentioned by Ms. Grant. According to her, when the settlers arrived they lived peacefully with one another.

The town is experiencing strange weather and other phenomena that is somehow linked to Max Caulfield's time-controlling abilities. 

A snowstorm ends episode one, "Chrysalis", and an eclipse ends episode two, "Out of Time", while the reoccurring deaths of animals are seen throughout episode three, "Chaos Theory", and a double moon appears at the end of episode four, "Dark Room". In episode five, "Polarized", Arcadia Bay's fate is in the player's hands as it can be destroyed by the tornado in Max's visions.

Arcadia Bay's main source of commerce was fishing, which has now all dried up due to the Prescott family's doing.

Locations

Blackwell Academy Bean Hip Cafe Prescott Barn (Dark Room) American Rust Junkyard Two Whales Diner Lighthouse Beach Madsen Household Arcadia Bay Cemetery Arcadia Bay Police Department Arcadia Bay Fire Department Habor Lumber Mill Water Tower Hospital Prescott Estate Pan Estates

Up All Nite Donuts Gas Station Rue Attimoro (French/Italian Restaurant) Harbor Inn Arcadia Bay Rental Services Tony's Liquor Store ACFC Drive-Thru McFlynn Arcadia Bay Grocery&Deli

Wildlife

Arcadia Bay has a large and diverse range of wildlife. 

Main article: Wildlife

Symbolism

Sticker from Max's journal. Latin for "Even in Arcadia, there I am."

Arcadia is a Utopia introduced in Greek and Latin mythology, which is full of flowers, fruits and forests.

"Even in Arcadia, there I am."

Inspirations

The developers conducted research on the setting by travelling to the Pacific Northwest for the purpose of conveying a nostalgic and autumnal feel to the game. The development team visited the region, took photographs, looked at local newspapers and used Google Street View to make sure the environment was accurately portrayed.

• Arcadia Bay has been built with inspirations from multiple locations in Oregon. These probably include Newport, OR and Lincoln City, OR on the coast. In the episode "Out of Time", Warren notes that the Newberg drive-in is sixty miles away from Blackwell, which matches the distance from Lincoln City.
• Several characteristic details are very likely based on the area of Tillamook Bay. The railroad track, water tower and harbour can or could be found in Garibaldi, OR, while the lumber mill as well as some signs can be found in Tillamook, OR. The lighthouse design might be based on either Heceta Head Lighthouse or Yaquina Head Lighthouse (Portland, OR).

• 

  Position of the fictive town of Arcadia Bay based on the in-game co-ordinates found in David's files.

  The co-ordinates found in David's locker in Episode 4 actually are the co-ordinates for Tillamook Bay, although they correspond to the water itself, to prevent the tracking co-ordinates to match up with real roads. This is further evidence that Arcadia Bay may be based off of Tillamook Bay and its surrounding areas.
• It's possible that the town is meant to represent the town of Bayocean, OR which was destroyed over the course of 40 years by man-made erosion, and existed where there is now water.

Trivia

• The town was originally called "Aurora Creek" before Christian Divine suggested the name "Arcadia Bay" because "it just sounded more peaceful and mystic, and the word ‘Arcadia’ has all these connotations that would be fun to play with and contrast with the darkness that’s actually going on in the town. It has all these different representations and metaphors that you can look in to and work with."

Gallery

Locations

Agate Beach

Yaquina Head lighthouse

Map of Arcadia Bay by the Lighthouse

Menu Screens

"Chrysalis"

"Out of Time"

"Chaos Theory"

"Dark Room"

"Polarized"