Where Was ‘1923’ Filmed? Every Breathtaking Location Used in the ‘Yellowstone’ Prequel!

The Yellowstone empire is alive and thriving with season 2 of 1923 dominating the streaming charts on Paramount+. Taylor Sheridan‘s western prequel is amid its second season, with critics gushing over the Harrison Ford-starring series on Rotten Tomatoes, where the show sits at a mighty 95% as of writing. The series is the second prequel to the immensely popular Yellowstone, following 1883, starring Sam Elliott, with each series expanding the story and legacy of the Dutton Family.

1923‘s second season continues to follow the story of Jacob (Ford) and Cara Dutton (Helen Mirren) as they face a plethora of challenges in early 20th-century Midwest America, fighting in the ever-changing landscape of the USA to protect their prized family ranch from those who wish to take their land by force. 1923 aims to fill in much of the gaps between 1883 and the original Yellowstone series, further fleshing out the Dutton legacy and giving the saga a form of three-act structure between the three series.

Where Is ‘1923’ Supposed to Take Place?

Easily one of the highlights of the series is the show’s depiction of Montana, the primary setting for the Paramount+ series. With vast landscapes and period-appropriate sets and clothing, every detail is remarkably realized to create a lived-in period piece. However, while Jacob and Cara Dutton’s story features a Midwest backdrop, the show was also filmed in the great state of Texas. Between the show’s two seasons, many parts of both Montana and Texas were used to bring Taylor Sheridan’s world to life in 1923, so let’s take a closer look at the specific locations of the series’ production.

Where Was ‘1923’ Filmed?

1923 was filmed across many cities in Montana and Texas, with additional filming taking place in South and East Africa. We’ve listed all the filming locations down below.

Montana Filming Locations

Butte

The city of Butte, Montana is where the bulk of 1923‘s most recognizable scenes were filmed. The town serves as the backdrop for Uptown Butte and Bozeman in the series, and was where the large majority of filming took place overall.

Anaconda

Anaconda, Montana, a southwestern city in Montana, was another major filming location for the series,1923. Located in southwestern Montana, the town was once a copper-smelting boom town which thrived in the 1800s, with the town’s iconic Anaconda Smoke Stack being its most recognizable landmark. Anaconda was primarily used for the exterior shots of the sheds of the Indian boarding school in the series, with the filmmakers using the land of the Anaconda Rifle and Pistol Club to film these sequences.

Whitehall

Whitehall, Montana was where a majority of the series’ gorgeous landscapes were captured on film. For many of the show’s wide-open ranges, with many of these shots being captured at the base of the Highland Mountain range, just outside Whitehall.

Pony

Located on the edge of the Tobacco Root Mountains, Pony, Montana served as the filming location for the Catholic boarding school in the series. 1923‘s cast and crew filmed at Pony Public School, which was built in 1902.

Chief Joseph Ranch

Located in Darby, Montana, the historic Chief Joseph Ranch was used as a stand-in for the Dutton Family Ranch in 1923.

Texas Filming Locations

Austin

The capital of Texas, the city of Austin was the primary filming location for 1923 in the Lone Star State, especially in the show’s second season. The show began production in Austin in May 2024, with the shoot bringing more than $50 million into the state capital.

Lockhart

Located not too far outside Austin, the small town of Lockhart was used primarily for its historic buildings, which served as a backdrop for the series’ rendition of Montana.

Bartlett

Bartlett, Texas is located 50 miles north of Austin, with many of the town’s buildings being transformed into vintage 1920s sets for the series. Filming in Bartlett took place over the course of August and September 2024.

Africa

Umgeni Steam Railway

Located in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, Umgeni Steam Railway is a steam locomotive preservation society which served as a stand-in for the Nairobi train station in 1923. Actors Brandon Sklenar and Julia Schlaepfer filmed many of their scenes in South Africa, with this being one of the major filming locations for the show’s Africa-based scenes.

Kearsney Manor

Based on the coast of Kwa-Zulu Natal, the exquisite Kearsney Manor doubled as the Stanley Hotel for scenes in 1923. This mansion dates back to the late 1880s, when it was built by Sir James Leige Hulett, and currently serves as a bustling wedding venue.

Serengeti National Park

Located in northern Tanzania, Serengeti National Park was used prominently for some scenes and establishing shots in the Africa Savanna. The National Park is known for its annual migration of wildebeest and zebra and is the home of over two million ungulates.

Kenya

The country of Kenya was also used for scenes in 1923, most notably the small fishing village of Kalk Bay near Cape Town, which was used for harbor scenes in the series.

Malta

The island country of Malta doubled as Sicily for scenes in 1923. Malta is known as the world’s tenth-smallest country by area, with a population of just over 500,000 people. This also makes Malta the ninth most densely populated country in the world. The Grand Harbor in Valletta, Malta is also seen later in the series, as Spencer (Sklenar) and (Schlaepfer) board the ship, the Majestic.

California

Long Beach

The RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, California stands in for the aforementioned ship, the Majestic. The British Ocean Liner operated from 1936 to 1967, sailing the North Atlantic Ocean. Once it was decommissioned, the ship was anchored in Long Beach, where it now serves as a tourist attraction.

Watch 1923 on Paramount+.