if there were a school like Hogwarts in the US -- where would it be located?

[Lisa]

For some reason I see it being in more of an urban setting -- near New York, New Orleans, or San Francisco, for example. The first two places have centuries of historical background, and San Francisco has the west coast interest in the supernatural going for it.

(A Canadian wizard school might be on one of the Gulf Islands near Vancouver ... like a scaled-down version of the Island of Roke in Ursula LeGuin's books?)

[DS1]

1. Burlington Vermont

[Book Lover]

2. MIddle o' nowhere

like Wyoming nowhere (I'm just talk about population, people! I love wide open spaces like Wyoming!)

[JVS]

3. Amityville NY

[wildhorses]

4. land of voodoo

baton rouge or the okefenokee (sp) swamp land

or very high on a mountain top...

[KamaAina]

30. I always thought that Beauxbatons might have a branch in "la Louisiane"

probably New England for the direct Hogwarts equivalent or affiliate, though a) none of those burned in Salem were witches, and b) all that took place in what is now nearby Danvers, MA.

[Xipe Totec]

5. Salem Mass

Isn't it obvious?

[TheMightyFavog]

9. IIRc, one of the books does mention a school in Salem.

End of Line.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

21. It mentions witches from Salem in Goblet of Fire...

But I don't remember a school in Salem. :shrug:
Duckie

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. The Catskills, Berkshires, or Green Mountains

[SPKrazy]

7. Santa Fe New Mexico

:shrug:

cool place, or Taos maybe?

[BrotherBuzz]

8. Druid Heights, adjacent to Muir Woods, Marin County, California

No doubt about it!

http://www.techgnosis.com/index_druid.html

[lost-in-nj]

10. Sleepy Hollow

where else ??


lost

[Inchworm]

11. Just outside of Deadwood

:)

[philosophie_en_rose]

12. Cascade Mountains, Washington

[Sabriel]

13. On a mountain lake in Colorado or Wyoming or Alaska

Except that they'll have to drive in cars to get there, seeing as how we're anti-passenger-train here.

[XemaSab]

24. There's a train that goes through Glacier NP.

:D

[Arugula Latte]

14. New Haven -- adjacent to Yale.

That's the goth-est place I've seen in the U.S.

[hyphenate]

15. Taking everything into consideration

There would likely be more than one school in the U.S. because of distance, one on each coast.

I would say Salem was a logical location for the East Coast, and I would suggest a mystical place on the West Coast, perhaps the Winchester House in California, Area 51 in Nevada or the Anasazi Cliff Dwellings in the Four Corners area.

[Lisa]

16. good point -- and also the cultural differences

Given the distinct aboriginal cultures, and historical changes over the past 500 years, that would seem a reasonable approach, especially since Rowlings suggested at least 3 schools for Europe. The responses so far seem to prefer New England, the Gulf Coast, and the West (particularly the Southwest) -- and possibly Appalachia as well.

In the books of John Bellairs (written prior to the Harry Potter series), the wizards he describes live in or around Michigan, and except for one woman who has a PhD from the University of Gottingen (a real-life school), they are all self-taught. I thought this quote from "The Figure in the Shadows", about a Michigan farmer who dabbled in magic around the time of the Civil War, was pretty evocative ...
"You know," she said slowly, "it must have been awfully lonely on farms in those days. No TV, no radio, no car to take you into town for a movie. No movies at all. Farmers just kind of holed up for the winter. Some of them read the Bible, and some of them read-- other books."

[Iris]

17. Lawrenceville, Georgia?

'Harry Potter' Books to Stay in Gwinnett County Schools

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=3342718&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

[Oeditpus Rex]

18. I'd hope it'd be

right smack in the middle of Kansas.

:evilgrin:

[CatholicEdHead]

19. Mountains in Pacific Northwest

either in Washington or Oregon or even the Mountains of Alaska.

[Twillig]

20. Only one place it could be:

Wizard Island!





EDIT: additional 'proof!'

From the National Parks Service Historic Research Study

IV. Indian Perceptions of Crater Lake:


http://www.nps.gov/archive/crla/hrs/hrs4.htm

The Indians view Crater lake and its surroundings as holy ground and approach its mystic waters with reverence and awe. They attach to its existence the thought that the Great Spirit hallows it by his presence. The ancient traditions of the tribes relate many supernatural events handed down with the mythical lore of the past. Only medicine men frequented the sacred spot, and when one felt called as teacher and healer it was a feature of his novitiate to spend weeks in fasting, and communion with the dead and prayer to the Sahullah Tyees, and so become imbued with inspiration to qualify him for his work. Beside this wonder-shore they saw visions and dreamed dreams, and when they came down from the mountain mysteries to mingle with mortals they brought the odor of sanctity with them and were viewed with reverence as having communed with the unknown world. <14>

[cemaphonic]

26. Yeah, name aside...

A magical school in a volcano caldera is too great to pass up. It's a really deep lake too, so they could stock it with all sorts of aquatic beasties.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

22. I think one of the islands on Lake Superior.

They're very mysterious.
Either that or maybe down in the Bayou. I could also see one buried in the Mountains somewhere in the Rockies area.
Duckie

[XemaSab]

23. Interesting idea on the urban setting

I think somewhere in the southwest, like a canyon in Arizona or New Mexico would be pretty cool. The Native cultures of the area are very magical.

Somewhere in the Appalachians might also be appropriate. Pagan American herbal hippie magic has a stronghold there.

My third idea would be somewhere in the Bayou studying Voodoo.

Those are my ideas.

Or you could have all three and hold a Triwizard tournament. :D

[ncabot22]

25. I'd say Blue Ridge Mountains

or the Great Smokey Mountains. Both areas are beautiful! Or Oregon. Maine, too.

I'm Canadian, so for Hogwarts Canada, I'd say Nova Scotia or St. John's, Newfoundland.

Edited for response

[MonkeyFunk]

27. Well, you got your answer today:

Orlando!

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/05/31/potter.park.reut/index.html

[sir_captain]

28. Harvard's housing system

works essentially the same way. So does Yale's, for that matter. And I guess Yale has a little bit more of a castle feel to it.

[mvd]

29. In Vermont, by the lake

:hi:

[mvd]

35. Oh, I see Vermont was mentioned, but..

I'd put it north of Burlington where it's more isolated.

[krispos42]

31. The school itself is isolated and alone, so...

Something like the Black Hills of South Dakota, northern Minnesota, or maybe the Rockies in Utah.

The portal itself would probably be in New York or Boston.

[DFW]

32. All my choices have been taken

Such as Green Mountains, Cascades, Maine, etc.

BUT....I love the idea of Wizard Island!!
(Crater Lake fan here, whaddya expect?)

[distantearlywarning]

33. Sedona, AZ. n/t

[Bjornsdotter]

34. Orlando...Universal Studios

Seriously, they are building a resort....Harry Potter World.

Cheers