Massachusetts built a cursed island: The filming locations of Widow's Bay

Most of the show's atmospheric harbour energy comes from Rockport on Cape Ann. Bearskin Neck and Old Harbor Road double as Widow's Bay's town centre – the narrow peninsula lined with shops and fishing docks, plus White Wharf, where several key scenes unfold. Rockport's harbour is featured prominently throughout the series and previously appeared in The Proposal and the Oscar-winning CODA.

The exterior of the fictional Salty Whale restaurant was filmed at the former Dark Star Philosophia gallery – a vacant building on Bearskin Neck that once housed a local art gallery, dressed and signposted as the town's primary gathering place. A real ice-cream shop on Bearskin Neck makes a brief on-screen appearance.

Just down the road, Gloucester supplies the coastal grit. Lane's Cove became the Harbour Master's Office and ferry landing. Half Moon Beach inside Stage Fort Park is where Mayor Tom takes the inaugural swim. Good Harbor Beach – where a local artist photographed the production at work in June 2025 – contributed additional beach scenes. Eastern Point Light provides the show's classic New England lighthouse shots. Vita Bella Ristorante in Gloucester also features in the series.

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Vincent's Bar at 49 Suffolk Street in Worcester was transformed into the Barnabus Tavern – the town's dive bar where locals gather. The Telegram & Gazette reported filming in May 2025. The filmmakers chose the real Worcester bar for its genuine small-town feel. The Shirley Center Town Hall, built in 1850, was used for the historical society museum sequence in episode 1.

Filming also took place in Ayer in May 2025. A private home in Ayer served as the wine party location, the book club meeting and the memorable second-story window sequence in episode 4. New England Studios in Devens – the production facility in the former Fort Devens military base – housed the interior sets built for the series.

Berlin's 1870 Town Hall stands in for Widow's Bay's municipal building. In Maynard, the Lorenzo Maynard mansion – a Second Empire house now divided into apartments – serves as the exterior of the haunted Widow's Bay Inn. The pretty white Martha Mary Chapel in Sudbury, built by Henry Ford in 1940, appears as the town church. The Rebecca Nurse Homestead in Danvers – the 17th-century farmhouse associated with a victim of the Salem witch trials – brought the production to its most historically charged location. 

Widow's Bay premiered April 29, 2026 and Apple TV+ renewed Widow's Bay for a second season on June 11, 2026, before the season had even finished airing.