Springfield
—  Town  —
A panoramic view of Springfield (as seen in The Simpsons Movie) A panoramic view of Springfield (as seen in The Simpsons Movie)
Motto: A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man. Meanest Town In America! Springfield: Good[1]
Country	United States
State	Unknown
County	Springfield County[2]
Landmarks	List 742 Evergreen Terrace Kwik-E-Mart
Founded	1796
Founder	Jebediah Springfield
Government
• Mayor	Joe Quimby (D)
Elevation[3]	482 m (1,582 ft)
Population [3]
• Total	30,720
Demonym	Springfieldianite
Town newspaper	The Springfield Shopper

Springfield is the fictional town in which the American animated sitcom The Simpsons is set. A mid-sized town in an undetermined state of the United States, Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society.^[4] The geography of the town and its surroundings are flexible, changing to address whatever an episode’s plot calls for.^[5] Springfield's location is impossible to determine; the show is deliberately evasive on the subject, providing contradictory clues and impossible information about an actual geographic location.

Creation[link]

Springfield is meant to represent "anytown, USA" and not be a specific real town,^[6] although the producers acknowledge basing the town on various locations^[7] including The Simpsons creator Matt Groening's hometown of Portland, Oregon and Mike Scully's hometown, Springfield, Massachusetts.^[8] Groening named Springfield after Springfield, Oregon and also took inspiration from Springfield being the fictitious setting of the series Father Knows Best. He said, "I also figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the U.S. In anticipation of the success of the show, I thought, 'This will be cool; everyone will think it’s their Springfield.' And they do."^[9][10] Groening liked Second City Television's use of Melonville, a town with a large cast of recurring characters that serves as a mini-universe for the show, and partially based The Simpsons on it.^[11]

Location[link]

Due to the many contradictory statements regarding Springfield, it is impossible for the town to exist in any specific U.S. state. For example, in The Simpsons Movie, Ned Flanders tells Bart that Ohio, Nevada, Maine, and Kentucky all border Springfield's state.^[12]

The city's unknown and unknowable geography is a recurring joke in the series; despite the "riddle wrapped in an enigma that is Springfield's location",^[13] Lisa Simpson states that "it's a bit of a mystery, yes. But if you look at the clues, you can figure it out."^[14] Episodes frequently make fun of the fact that Springfield's state is unidentifiable by adding further conflicting descriptions, obscuring onscreen map representations, and interrupting conversational references.

The telephone area codes for Springfield are 636 (St. Charles County - Western St. Louis County, Missouri) and 939 (Puerto Rico). David Silverman has claimed that Springfield is in the fictional state of "North Takoma".^[15][16] This is substantiated by the state abbreviations NT and TA used within the show.^[16][17] However, this has never been officially confirmed in any canonical episode of The Simpsons or by other Simpsons producers.

To promote The Simpsons Movie, various towns and cities across the United States called Springfield competed to hold the premiere.^[18] The town of Springfield, Vermont, was chosen.^[19][20]

The town[link]

Springfield was founded in 1796 by a group led by Jebediah Springfield (also known as Hans Sprungfeld) that, after misinterpreting a passage in the Bible, left Maryland trying to find "New Sodom."^[21] After he refused to found a town where men were free to marry their cousins, half of the group left. The dissenters founded Shelbyville, after fellow pioneer Shelbyville Manhattan, and the two cities remain rivals.^[22] Springfield reached its pinnacle in the mid-20th century, when it became the home of the world's first Aquacar factory; one half of the U.S. was said to wear Springfield galoshes and Springfield's streets were literally paved with gold.^[23] The town's prosperity faded; a Time cover story on Springfield was entitled "America's Worst City",^[24] and Newsweek called the town "America's Crud Bucket".^[25]

Geography, climate, and environment[link]

Springfield's geography is varied, including forests, meadows, mountain ranges, a desert, a gorge, a glacier, beaches, badlands, canyons, swamps, a harbor, waterholes, and waterways. Major named geographical features include Springfield Gorge, Springfield National Forest, the volcanic Mt. Springfield, the West Springfield Desert ("three times the size of Texas!"),^[26] the Springfield Badlands (also known as the Alkali Flats),^[27] the gigantic Murderhorn Mountain, Springfield Glacier, Mt. Useful National Park, Springfield Mesa, and Springfield National Park. The Springfield Mystery Spot (seen in "Homer at the Bat"), apparently a portal to another dimension, is a popular tourist attraction.

The town's skies are usually blue and sunny. However, it has been subject to many natural disasters, including heat waves, blizzards, avalanches, earthquakes, acid rain, floods, hurricanes, lightning strikes, tornadoes, and volcanic eruptions.

Springfield's environment is unusually polluted. Overflowing garbage forced the whole town—both population and structures—to move five miles (8 km) away from the massive dump that the old town had become.^[28] Springfield is home to the state's largest self-sustaining tire fire, which has been burning continuously for decades.^[29] Lake Springfield's pollution almost led to the town's destruction by an Environmental Protection Agency bomb,^[30] and pollution from the nuclear power plant has mutated the fish in the river.^[31] Its atmosphere proved to have such a thick and acidic pollution layer that it once reduced a comet to a tiny rock the size of a chihuahua's head.^[32]

Politics, religion, and the media[link]

In politics, the mayor of Springfield is Joe Quimby (D), while the town's representative in congress is Herschel Krustofsky (R) of the 24th congressional district. Mary Bailey (D) is the governor of Springfield's state.^[31] Political corruption and police bribery is common enough to be virtually taken for granted.

Religious houses of worship include a local synagogue, the First Church of Springfield, First AME Church, the Cathedral of the Downtown, and a Buddhist vihara.

KBBL Broadcasting Inc. is the major media outlet, owning at least three radio stations and one television station. The Springfield Shopper is a town newspaper.

Neighborhoods and attractions[link]

The town is divided into many neighborhoods, including Rats Nest, Bum Town, Chinatown, Crackton, East Springfield, Greek Town, Russian Town, Junkyville, Little Bangkok, Little Italy, Little Newark, Little Stockholm, Little Seattle, Ethnictown, the Jewish Lower East Side, Pressboard Estates, Recluse Ranch Estates, Skid Row, Springfield Harbor, Springfield Heights, Hyperion Drive, Springshire, Tibet Town, the wealthy Waverly Hills, the artistic borough of Sprooklyn,^[33] the Lincoln Park Village Housing Project, the Flammable District, a gay district, a fast-food district, Little Ukraine,^[34] and a Nuclear Power Plant, known as Springfield Nuclear Power Plant.

Springfield boasts an opera house, an outdoor amphitheater, an arboretum, and a vibrant jazz scene, and was previously regarded as the entertainment capital of its state.^[35]

The town has several universities, including Springfield University and sports archrival Springfield A&M, Springfield Heights Institute of Technology, and Springfield Community College. Museums include the Springfield Museum and its world's largest cubic zirconium, Springfield Knowledgeum, Springfield Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Swordfish, Springsonian Museum, and a stamp museum.

For transportation, Springfield has an international airport, is served by a railroad, and has both an abandoned subway system, a public transit system, and an unsuccessful monorail line.

The town is home to the Springfield Isotopes, an AA minor league baseball team which plays its home games at Duff Stadium;^[36] the Springfield Atoms football team at Springfield Stadium;^[37] the NBA's Springfield Excitement (formerly the Austin Celtics);^[38] and the Springfield Ice-O-Topes hockey team at the Springfield Arena.

Businesses[link]

Springfield Nuclear Power Plant[link]

The Springfield Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant in Springfield owned by Montgomery Burns. The plant has the monopoly on the city of Springfield's energy supply, and the carelessness of Mr. Burns and the plant's employees (like Homer, who is employed at Sector 7G) often endangers the residents and natural environment of Springfield. At the core of the plant are two Fissionator 1952 Slow-Fission Reactors, operating in spite of more than 342 safety violations with an estimated repair bill to bring the plant up to code being in excess of $56 million. The plant has come close to a meltdown several times, and blown up at least once.

There is an unseen crow or raven that lives near the Power Plant, that caws whenever an establishing shot of the Power Plant is on screen. Mutated fish with more than two eyes have been seen in the lake behind the power plant, which has a large pipe pumping nuclear waste into it. According to Mr. Burns the plant is endowed with flippered mutants.

The design and folly of Springfield Nuclear Power Plant is often rumored to be based on the troubled Trojan Nuclear Power Plant (closed in 1993 due to defects) near Matt Groening's home town of Portland, Oregon, or the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington. However, Antonia Coffman, Groening's publicist, has said that the Springfield plant's design is generic and that "the Springfield Nuclear Power plant was not based on the Trojan Plant or any other power plant in the country."^[39][40]

Employees

• Owner: Charles Montgomery Burns
• Owner's executive assistant: Waylon Smithers
• Safety inspector: Homer Simpson
• Employees: Lenny Leonard, Carl Carlson and others

Kwik-E-Mart[link]

A Seattle 7-Eleven store transformed into a Kwik-E-Mart.

Kwik-E-Mart is a convenience store located in Springfield and run by Apu Nahasapeemapetilon. The Kwik-E-Mart first appeared in the first season episode "The Telltale Head" (although mentioned in "Bart the General" as the "Quick-e-Mart"). The episode "Homer and Apu" suggests that Apu is an employee of the Kwik-E-Mart and after losing his job there had to travel to India where the Kwik-E-Mart head office is located, in the Himalayas. However, Apu mentions at a bachelor auction that he runs his own business in "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons".

In addition to the sale of food, alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and other items offered at a typical convenience store, gasoline pumps have been shown in front on two occasions. In the episode "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song", Bart is visiting Principal Skinner at Fort Springfield. Skinner tells his troops to hold their fire and a mortar is fired in the wrong direction; the scene cuts to Apu standing in front of the Kwik-E-Mart bragging about his 16 new pumps just as a shadow from the mortar appears, and back to Fort Springfield where a 'K' from the Kwik-E-Mart lands in smoke. The episode "Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield" also shows the pumps where Apu refuses to go out and serve a customer on the forecourt.

In July 2007, convenience store chain 7-Eleven converted 11 of its stores in the United States and one in Canada into Kwik-E-Marts to promote the release of The Simpsons Movie.^[41] The locations of the renovated Kwik-E-Marts were: Bladensburg, Maryland/Washington, D.C.; Burbank, California; Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Henderson/Las Vegas, Nevada; Los Angeles, California; Mountain View/San Francisco, California; New York, New York; Orlando/Lake Buena Vista, Florida; Seattle, Washington;^[42] and Vancouver/Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada.^[43] These 12 locations, as well as the majority of other North American 7-Elevens, sold products found in The Simpsons, such as "Buzz Cola", "Krusty-O's", "Squishees", pink frosted "Sprinklicious doughnuts", and other Simpsons-themed merchandise. The Squishees were Slurpees that are sold in special collector cups and the Krusty-O's were made by Malt-O-Meal.^[42] The promotion resulted in a 30% increase in profits for the changed 7-Eleven stores. This can be seen during the opening of The Simpsons Movie.^[44]

The Android's Dungeon & Baseball Card Shop[link]

The Android's Dungeon & Baseball Card Shop is a comic book store owned by Jeff Albertson a.k.a. Comic Book Guy. The comic book store and its owner first appeared in the episode "Three Men and a Comic Book", when Bart sees the store is selling the very first edition of Radioactive Man for $100.

In the episode titled "Worst Episode Ever" (which is a remark often used by Comic Book Guy), Bart and Milhouse are given the job of running the comic book store after Comic Book Guy suffers from a heart attack and is told to take a rest from the store and go out and make some friends. It was damaged in The Simpsons Movie, where Comic Book Guy stated that spending his entire life collecting comics was a "life well spent."

Aztec Theater[link]

Aztec Theater is the old downtown movie theater in Springfield. The first known appearance was in The Telltale Head where Bart and the school bullies Jimbo, Kearney and Dolph all sneak into the theater through the fire escape to watch Space Mutants IV. The theater was used to screen the premiere of Itchy and Scratchy:The Movie in the episode of the same name. In the future, Soylent Green is on sale in the lobby. The name and appearance parodies various ethnically-named theaters in Hollywood and other parts of the United States.

Barney's Bowl-A-Rama[link]

Barney's Bowl-A-Rama is the bowling alley in Springfield. It is owned by Barney Gumble's Uncle Al. The Bowl-A-Rama has appeared several times in Simpsons episodes. The very first known appearance is the episode "Life on the Fast Lane" where Homer forgets Marge's birthday and after rushing out to purchase a gift, he ends up buying a bowling ball. Marge is insulted at the fact her gift from Homer was something obviously intended for his own personal use given the fact the ball had Homer's name engraved on it. Marge decides she will keep the gift for her own use and goes bowling for the first time. This is seen destroyed in The Simpsons Movie.

In the episode "And Maggie Makes Three", Homer tells the family the story of Maggie's birth. In this story, Homer explains how he quit his job at Springfield Nuclear Power Plant to work at the Bowl-A-Rama, which was Homer's dream job. This episode reveals where the bowling pins go after they are knocked over; the pins are shown ending up in a heap and new pins are manufactured instantly to replace those knocked over.

The Bowl-A-Rama is used in the episode "Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment" as a way of smuggling beer into Moe's Tavern. In this episode, alcohol is banned in Springfield and Homer begins bootlegging beer he uncovered from the city dump. The beer is poured into bowling balls and Homer then bowls the ball into the gutter at the Bowl-A-Rama; the ball then falls into a pipe leading to Moe's Tavern where Moe charges an outrageous price.

Costingtons[link]

Costingtons is a department store near the Springfield Mall featured in such episodes as "Trash of the Titans", "Kill Gil, Volumes I & II" and "Homer vs. Dignity".

KBBL Broadcasting[link]

KBBL Broadcasting is a media company which runs all KBBL TV and radio stations; it is used to parody the media. Its personalities include Kent Brockman, Krusty, Bill & Marty, and Bumble Bee man. The station jingle is "No sports, no rock, no information! For mindless chatter, we're your station!"

King Toots[link]

King Toots is a music store located next door to Moe's Tavern. The store sells musical instruments and is the place where Lisa's saxophone was purchased. The most notable appearance of King Toots Music Store was in "Lisa's Pony" where Lisa asks Homer to pick up a new reed for her saxophone for her recital. Homer heads to the store after work and realizes Moe's is next door; since the store wasn't to close for 5 minutes, Homer decides to have a quick beer first. Homer finishes his beer with 15 seconds to spare only to find the store owner has closed early. Homer goes back to Moe's fortunately to find the owner of the store and after much convincing from Homer and Moe the owner opens up to sell Homer a reed. Unfortunately, Homer is too late for Lisa's recital. Another appearance was in "Lisa's Sax" where after Lisa's saxophone was run over by a truck, as a result of a fight between Bart and Lisa, Homer tells the story of how Lisa first got her sax. King Toots is seen briefly during the opening of The Simpsons Movie and later while the dome is being put over Springfield.

The Leftorium[link]

The Leftorium is a store in the Springfield Mall that specializes in products for left-handed people. The store is owned by Ned Flanders, who first started The Leftorium in the season 3 episode "When Flanders Failed".^[45] At first, business at the store was going very poorly. Irritated with Flanders, Homer wished that the store would go out of business after Homer received the larger half of a wishbone. Homer got his wish and the Flanders family were forced to sell many of their possessions, much of which Homer purchased at a very low price. The bank repossessed the Flanders home and the store was to be next. Homer then regretted making this wish and the fact that he never told any of his friends who were in need of left-handed items about The Leftorium. As a result, he managed to get everyone he knew in town to shop at Ned's store, thus saving the store.

The Leftorium has continued to thrive since. However, there have been episodes where Flanders mentioned the store doesn't do that well, such as in the season ten episode "Thirty Minutes over Tokyo," where Ned mentions that he purchased most of his possessions cheaply, and that the business moved way down hill since "Leftopolis" moved in next door to it. In the episode "Home Away from Homer", Ned mentions that a recently opened, left-hand megastore, called "Left-Mart" (a parody of Wal-Mart) is threatening his business.

The writers had wanted to have Flanders own a failing business and the idea for the store was suggested by George Meyer.^[46] He got the idea from a friend whose family had owned a left-handed specialty store which had failed.^[47]

Noiseland Video Arcade[link]

Noiseland Video Arcade is the video arcade in downtown Springfield, a popular place for the youth. Arcade games include Escape from Grandma's House, Kevin Costner's Water World and Larry the Looter. The video arcade has had several appearances in The Simpsons, although mostly in the earlier seasons. The earliest known appearance was in "Moaning Lisa" where Bart challenges Homer to a boxing game on their home TV game system. As Bart is continuously undefeated, Homer decides to fight back by going to the video arcade to learn from the young children how to win in the same boxing game. Homer almost beats Bart but Marge switches off the game at the crucial moment. It was seen destroyed briefly in The Simpsons Movie.

Sprawl* Mart[link]

Sprawl* Mart is a big department store in Springfield and a parody of Wal-Mart, even though in On a Clear Day I Can't See My Sister, there is a sign saying "Not a Parody of Wal*Mart". It is first seen in "The Fat and the Furriest." Abe and Homer worked there in "On a Clear Day I Can't See My Sister;" Homer was required to work overtime in the store for no extra pay and workers were locked in the store. The workers used this as an opportunity to steal whatever wasn't bolted down.

Springfield Mall[link]

The Springfield Mall is a shopping mall in Springfield and it features stores such as Happy Market, Cost-Mo (an obvious parody of Costco), and smaller stores such as Girdles N' Such, Eye Caramba, The Ear Piercery, Happy Sailor Tattoo Parlor, Love Your Computer, Gum4Less, Popular Books, The Leftorium, Nick's Bowling Shop, Stoner's Pot Palace, Bookacchino's, a Mapple Store (a parody of the Apple Store), and many others.

Try-N-Save[link]

In the episode "Marge Be Not Proud", Bart is caught shoplifting in a Try-N-Save, a store based on retail outlet Pic 'n Save.^{[citation needed]} Despite being told by Try-N-Save security to never return to the store because of shoplifting, Bart is forced to go back with his family for a photo portrait session. Seen by security again, Bart's crime is revealed, and his relationship with Marge is threatened. The store also appears in the "Kamp Krusty" episode of The Simpsons. In the episode "The Good, the Sad and the Drugly," the Try-N-Save brand comes up when Seymour Skinner leads Superintendent Chalmers to believe that his shoes are genuine Hush Puppies when they are actually Try-N-Save Shush Mutts.

Bars and restaurants[link]

The Gilded Truffle[link]

The Gilded Truffle is the local restaurant serving French cuisine. It has appeared in several episodes.

Moe's Tavern[link]

Moe's Tavern is a local bar in Springfield frequented by Homer Simpson, Carl Carlson, Lenny Leonard and Barney Gumble. The tavern is named after and run by Moe Szyslak. Moe's Tavern first appeared in the episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". In the first season of The Simpsons, the entrance appeared to be a saloon door. The bar sells mostly Duff Beer although other beverages are served. In the episode "Flaming Moe's", Moe's beer payments were delinquent so his beer distributor stopped delivering to him. When Homer shows Moe a drink he developed called the Flaming Homer, Moe sells it as his own, calling it the Flaming Moe. The drink becomes extremely popular until Homer reveals its secret ingredient, allowing other businesses to create a similar product. The drink's popularity wanes significantly.

Moe's Tavern has seen several other makeovers in various episodes of The Simpsons, but the tavern always reverts back to its former state before the show's end. In the episode "Homer's Barbershop Quartet" and "At Long Last Leave" Moe's Tavern is named Moe's Cavern as a reference to the world famous Cavern Club in Liverpool, which is the club where the Beatles began playing. Other notable makeovers are in the episode "Bart Sells His Soul" where Moe turns his tavern into a family restaurant called Uncle Moe's Family Feed Bag and in "Homer the Moe" where Moe turns his tavern into a yuppie bar called m. Also in this episode, it is revealed that the television in Moe's is not black and white (as it is always seen) but a dirty color television (Homer says "When was the last time Moe cleaned this thing?" then wipes the screen with a cloth). In addition it is turned into an English pub named Nag and Weasel in the episode "Mommie Beerest". In "My Sister, My Sitter", Moe appears to have become Moe's Brewing Co., a brewpub that is moved to a posh new premises at the Springfield Squidport, but it is revealed to just be a very long tunnel to the existing bar. In "Flaming Moe", he enlists the help of Waylon Smithers to transform the bar into a gay bar called Mo's, although he changes it back again at the end of the episode. In The Simpsons Movie it is located next to the church and named Moe's Bar, and in The Simpsons Game it is seen next to the Sleep-Eazy Motel. In the episode "Homer the Smithers", Mr. Burns believes in order to operate a telephone, you spell the requested person's name out using the alphabetic keypad (he spells out S-M-I-T-H-E-R-S), he is instead connected to Moe's Tavern. As a result if one was to spell Smithers name out on a telephone keypad, the fictional phone number minus the area code for the tavern would be revealed as 764-8437(7).

Krusty Burger[link]

Krusty Burger is a fast food restaurant chain owned by Krusty the Clown as one of his many branded products and services. Krusty Burger is seen as a parody of a typical fast food chain such as McDonald's, Burger King, KFC or Arby's. A typical store features a drive-thru with a speaker box and most of the employees are young teenage workers. In the episode "22 Short Films About Springfield", the Springfield police are comparing the differences between Krusty Burger and McDonald's, a parallel of the "Royale With Cheese discussion" seen in Pulp Fiction. This can be seen in The Simpsons Movie during the dome sequence after Homer and Bart buy lunch by themselves and with the family.