Tim Worstall

The Simpson’s Springfield

So which Springfield is in fact the one where the Simpsons live?

We all know that Homer and Marge Simpson live in Springfield, but is that Springfield, Oregon or Springfield, Nebraska?

Or, perhaps, Springfield, Colorado, Springfield, Missouri … Michigan, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, Louisiana or Illinois.

Actually, following the running of a US-wide competition between aspiring Springfields, it is the Vermont version with its population of 9,300.

Not wholly convinced to be truthful. Around a decade ago a long investigative piece was done in one of the Alt. Weeklies about which town was in fact Springfield. Not, you might be surprised to know, one actually called Springfield though. Turns out it’s actually San Luis Obispo. The Diablo Canyon nuclear plant and way too many other things to merely be co-incidences.

Of course, it was the SLO Alt Weekly that ran the piece so perhaps not an entirely unbiased source…

In

6 responses

  1. gene berman Avatar
    gene berman

    Pennsylvania’s not mentioned and it has two Springfields within about 30 miles of each other–one in Delaware county and the other in Montgomery.

    Reply
  2. Blithering Bunny Avatar
    Blithering Bunny

    This was just a competition to decide where the film premiere would be held. Whatever the papers are saying, it doesn’t mean that this town was really the one that Groening based his Springfield on.

    Reply
  3. Chris White Avatar
    Chris White

    Isn’t The Simpsons’ Springfield on the coast?

    Reply
  4. Sgt. Mom Avatar
    Sgt. Mom

    I have not checked this out, but one of those trivia factoids passed around, is that every one of the 50 states has a place named Springfield in it somewhere.

    Reply
  5. TimT Avatar
    TimT

    The programmers like playing with your mind. In one episode, the Simpsons actually have a big map of America hung up in the living room, and have put pins in the states that they’re not allowed to visit any more (usually for reasons relating to Homer’s stupidity/whacky schemes). I think Marge even recites a list of the states that they can visit. Theoretically, if you froze the tape on that scene and got out a map of the US, you could work it all out…
    If what the program tells you is true, Springfield is not only on the ocean, it has a Chinatown, a Springfield ‘Alkali Flats’, badlands, the ‘wrong side of the tracks’, and a train travelling direct to Boston. I’m not sure whether it’s East Coast or West Coast. The town also has an extra month (either autumn or winter: ‘Lousy Smarch weather!’ – Homer)

    Reply
  6. TimT Avatar
    TimT

    Perhaps we should ask not, where is Springfield, but where is Shelbyville?

    Reply

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