# Location of Springfield narrowed down! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 7, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/location-of-springfield-narrowed-down/147191 "2003-01-07T22:30:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/location-of-springfield-narrowed-down/147191/21 "2003-01-08T07:57:51Z")
When Bart was sent to Military school, Marge and Homer got him into the car by saying they were going to Disney Land (World?), then at the end of the show, the kids were told they were going there again, when they got out of the car, they saw it was the dentist, (right?). They must have expected it to be in driving distance. Doesn’t explain the Snow on winter eps tho. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/location-of-springfield-narrowed-down/147191/22 "2003-01-08T12:47:26Z")
It’s near Ogdenville. And North Haverbrook! ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/location-of-springfield-narrowed-down/147191/23 "2003-01-08T12:53:59Z")
Well, it can’t be Sprinfield, Ohio. The driving distance between Cleveland and Tampa is about 1,100 miles. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/location-of-springfield-narrowed-down/147191/24 "2003-01-08T13:08:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JohnT \* > \*\*"… Evergreen Terrace, Springfield Oh-Hi-Ya Marge!" \*\* _snicker, snicker_ Marge said that to Maude. I snicker cause I love. I love and I can always be counted on to mess up a quote and I’m so happy it ain’t me. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/location-of-springfield-narrowed-down/147191/25 "2003-01-08T13:19:51Z")
AAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/location-of-springfield-narrowed-down/147191/26 "2003-01-08T13:37:33Z")
Here is the definitive answer: [http://www.snpp.com/guides/springfield.list.html](http://www.snpp.com/guides/springfield.list.html) It has no fixed location. All the evidence contradicts the other evidence. Its Anytown USA, only much crappier. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/location-of-springfield-narrowed-down/147191/27 "2003-01-08T20:31:49Z")
It’s in a state where both gambling and selling boys are legal. Screw it, we all know the answer. Springfield is in America ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/location-of-springfield-narrowed-down/147191/28 "2003-01-08T21:10:48Z")
True that it is in Anytown, afterall, most of the evidence contradicts other evidence. I believe Matt Groening has stated before though that Springfield was originally loosely based on Olympia, WA. That’s where he went to college IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/location-of-springfield-narrowed-down/147191/29 "2003-01-08T21:19:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cisco \* > **True that it is in Anytown, afterall, most of the evidence contradicts other evidence.** Especially the episode (I forget which one) which ends with Marge saying “Well, that’s one _more_ state we’re not welcome in,” and crossing a state off of a US map. The camera pulls back to show that almost every state has been crossed off. I remember reading at some point that someone checked, and found that every state with a real “Springfield” had been crossed off the map. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/location-of-springfield-narrowed-down/147191/30 "2003-01-08T21:59:49Z")
lol ---
**Author:** ![Opengrave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/919ad9/32.png) [@Opengrave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opengrave)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/location-of-springfield-narrowed-down/147191/31 "2003-01-08T22:11:06Z")
I wonder if the Simpsons ever run into anyone from the Guiding Light? (who also live in ‘Springfield’ of unknown whereabouts) ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/location-of-springfield-narrowed-down/147191/32 "2003-01-08T22:12:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BrightEyes \* > why do people care about insignficant details like that? is your view of springfield going to be ruined or something by having springfield set in maine or colorado or california? > :rolleyes: Ah, you don’t watch enough, do you? Whlie there certainly are people who care about insignificant little details, this is not one of them. It’s one of the single largest running jokes on the show. And don’t forget that it has to border a Shelbyville. How many Shelbyvilles can there be? ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/location-of-springfield-narrowed-down/147191/33 "2003-01-09T00:36:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mobo85 \* > \*\*It’s in a state where both gambling and selling boys are legal. > > Screw it, we all know the answer. Springfield is in > > America \*\* Ahhh, to the contrary. In one episode, we see the abreviation “Springfield, NT.” Since only the Northwest Territory uses that abreviation, I am forced to conclude that Springfield is a small American city located in Canada 😉 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/location-of-springfield-narrowed-down/147191/34 "2003-01-09T02:11:51Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s near Ogdenville. And North Haverbrook! Not really. The next line is “And by gum it put them on the map!” and he pulls out a map that shows the two cities no where near each other. Now Springfield is a few hours away from Ogdenville since a few other episodes have refrenced an outlet mall there. Also Springfield is someplace where there was a Civil War battle, near oil fields, a colonial settlement, gets hurricanes, one night’s drive from Menlow Park, and a week from Atlanta. The rings in the Halloween episode were from southern Louisiana. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/location-of-springfield-narrowed-down/147191/35 "2003-01-09T02:30:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by clayton\_e \* > **So I looked at some maps and the only place that these facts all lined up was in Washington State.** That makes sense, considering that Matt Groening went to Washington State University. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/location-of-springfield-narrowed-down/147191/36 "2003-01-09T02:37:47Z")
Yeah, I considered his history as well. The only other place that it could have been was in California, but the train thing nixed that. ---
**Author:** ![squid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@squid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squid)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/location-of-springfield-narrowed-down/147191/37 "2003-01-09T18:29:24Z")
Although Springfield is most likely not an actual location it is probably a combination of a few or better yet a play off another city all together. Much like when Andy Griffith invented Mayberry. It came from his home town of Mt. Airy. Next to Mt. Airy there is Pilot Mountiain (Mt. Pilot in the TV show). But then again a couple of years ago i was driving through IN or IL and passed and exit for Simpsonville. A couple exits later there was an exit for Shelbyville. Whats up with that? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/location-of-springfield-narrowed-down/147191/38 "2003-01-09T18:58:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Just Some Guy \* > \*\* > Also Springfield is someplace where there was a Civil War battle, near oil fields, a colonial settlement, gets hurricanes, one night’s drive from Menlow Park, and a week from Atlanta. > \*\* Don’t forget driving distance to the Atlantic coast (Hermit crabs when the Simpsons use the Flander’s Beach house). And has Southwest USA Road\_Runner style cliffs (When Skinner is chasing Bart when Bart plays hookey). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/location-of-springfield-narrowed-down/147191.md?page=1)