Springfield (The Simpsons)

City of Springfield

File:Springfield space.jpg
Country	United States of America
Founder	Jebediah Springfield
Founded	1796
Incorporated	1796
Town Motto	"A Noble Spirit Embiggens the Smallest Man"
Mayor	Joe Quimby (D)
Area Codes	636 & 939
Population	30,720
Elevation	1,582 ft.

Springfield is the fictional American city in which the American animated cartoon television sitcom The Simpsons is set. The state in which Springfield is unkown, but has been hinted at in several The Simpsons episodes.

Springfield is a small port city located near a large, unknown body of water. The geography of Springfield and its surroundings change to address whatever a Simpsons episode’s plot may call for.

History

Colonial era

File:The Simpsons-Jebediah Springfield.png

Jebediah Springfield, founder.

Springfield was founded in 1796 by Maryland settlers trying to find a course to "New Sodom" after misinterpreting a passage in the Bible. In its early days, the city was the target of many Native American raids, and to this day, many forts and trading posts remain including Fort Springfield and Fort Sensible. It was also the site of two battles during the American Civil War.

The founder of Springfield was the pioneer Jebediah Springfield, widely celebrated in the town as a brave and patriotic American hero. He tamed a wild buffalo and killed a bear with his bare hands, and his deeds are immortalized with a bronze statue that mounts in the center of the city square in front of the Springfield Town Hall building. (Revisionist historians have since determined that the bear actually killed Springfield, but this has been deemed to be mean-spirited "fact-mongering".) The town motto "A Noble Spirit Embiggens the Smallest Man" is attributed to Jebediah.

Lisa Simpson once discovered that Jebediah Springfield was actually just the alias of Hans Sprungfeld, a murderous pirate and enemy of George Washington ("Lisa the Iconoclast"). Amongst other things, his taming of the wild buffalo is a myth—he actually merely shot a tamed buffalo. Also Lisa found that he had a tongue made of silver, but history has taken this to mean that he was a talented orator. Lisa eventually decided that the myth of Jebediah Springfield should be preserved and did not reveal her findings. Hollis Hurlbut, the local antiquarian who heads the Springfield Historical Society, supported her decision, if only because it meant that Jebediah's silver tongue could remain a fetching cowboy model in his museum.

Rivalry with Shelbyville

There is a strong rivalry between Springfield and its closest neighboring town, Shelbyville, starting with the rivalry that existed between Jebediah Springfield and Shelbyville Manhattan, the founder of Shelbyville. Manhattan wanted to found a city where men were free to marry their cousins, but Springfield refused to allow it. So Shelbyville broke away with his supporters and founded a rival town, Shelbyville.

Present day

In "Bart-Mangled Banner", Bart Simpson accidentally moons the United States flag, and later the Simpsons appear on a talk show to explain the matter. However, the show's host made it appear that Springfield hates America. When the rest of the U.S. reciprocates this loathing, Mayor Joe Quimby changes the name of Springfield to "Liberty-Ville". An enormous patriotic craze ensued, wherein all items were priced at $17.76, even houses.

For a brief period, Springfield divided itself into two cities because of an area code dispute. Homer Simpson, upset that he had to memorize a new area code, 939, while the rich side of town retained the familiar 636 area code, riled up the lower class citizens of Springfield to rebel and establish their side of Springfield as a separate town to be called New Springfield. They erected a wall made of refuse dividing the two area codes and elected Homer as their new mayor. Mayor Joe Quimby maintained control of the rich side, which came to be called Olde Springfield. The two towns reunited when the rock band The Who, while in Springfield for a concert, suggested speed dial to solve the town's problem and agreed to play if the wall was torn down. ("A Tale of Two Springfields".)

At one point, Homer Simpson was elected as Sanitation Commissioner ("Trash of the Titans"). After Homer spent the entire yearly budget in only his first month of office, the town was forced to take in the garbage of other cities in order to make enough money to pay the city's trash collectors. Eventually the mines that were storing the collected trash overflowed and littered throughout the city, prompting the entire city, population and structures, to literally move five miles down the road to establish “new” Springfield away from the massive dump that “old” Springfield had become.

Geography

Springfield's geography includes forests, meadows, a mountain range, a desert, beaches, canyons, swamps, waterholes and waterways. Springfield is located on the coast of a large body of water. It has been stated that "West Springfield" is three times the size of Texas and looks exactly like Texas in shape.

Major geographic features include Springfield Gorge, Springfield National Forest, Mt. Springfield, the Springfield Badlands (also known as the Alkali Flats), the Murderhorn, Springfield Glacier, Springfield Mesa and Mt. Carlmore. Geezer Rock was unwittingly destroyed by Homer Simpson.

Springfield wildlife includes grizzly bears in the Springfield Forest, wolves, some of which prowl into the urban areas of Springfield, vultures in the Alkali Flats, and manatees south of Springfield in the waters.

Weather

Springfield receives plenty of rain, as well as heavy snow. Most of the time, however, the skies are blue and it's mostly sunny. Springfield has also been prone to severe heat waves and many natural disasters including earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and acid rain.

Pollution

According to the non-canon Are We There Yet? Guide to Springfield by The Simpsons creator Matt Groening, visitors to Springfield are advised to constantly wear radiation suits and carry Geiger counters, since the city is perhaps the most radioactive in the United States. This is because the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant was built during an incredibly lax period for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the plant's nuclear core was surrounded not by several layers of protective concrete, lead and graphite but by ordinary plaster and a horseshoe hanging from a nail.

Also, Springfield is home to the state's largest self-sustaining tire fire which has been burning continuously since 1966 or 1989 (depending on which episode is referenced). The smoke from the fire can be smelled in 46 other states.

Cityscape

File:Simpbartoffice.jpg

Springfield with skyscrapers downtown, as seen in The Simpsons Hit & Run.

The city is divided into many neighborhoods, including: Bum Town, Chinatown, Crackton, East Springfield, Greek Town, Junkieville, Little Bangkok, Little Italy, Little Newark, Lower Eastside, Pressboard Estates, Recluse Ranch Estates, Skid Row, Springfield Harbor, Springfield Heights, Springshire, Tibet Town, West Springfield, a flammable district, a gay district and a Russian district.

In many episodes, the cityscape is changed. Skyline shots of the city vary from episode to episode and buildings change location.

Infrastructure

Main Street

The city's Main Street is in a pitiful state of disrepair owing to citizens driving along it while carrying excessively heavy loads and leaving snow chains on their tires after the snow has melted. (Homer Simpson was spotted driving along it with a massive grand piano strapped to the roof of his car as his chain-covered tires gouged the pavement.) Some of the potholes have become so wide that entire automobiles have fallen into them.

Evergreen Terrace

Evergreen Terrace is a suburban street on the east side of Springfield. It is notable as the street where the Simpson family lives (at 742 Evergreen Terrace). The Flanders family live next door on the Simpsons' left at 740 Evergreen Terrace. Former Presidents Gerald Ford, George Bush, Sr., Ruth Powers and her daughter Laura, and the Winfields also have lived on Evergreen Terrace. The street is never shown to have a consistent location within Springfield and the Simpsons and the Flanderses are the only characters consistently shown to be living on it.

Transportation

Bus service

Springfield's metropolitan area is served by a public bus service. The regular bus service has stops at Crackton, Airport Refueling Way and Area 51A. The city bus service provides public transit on the Route 22 bus on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; the 22A bus on Tuesday and Thursday. There is also the 108 Route seen in Future-Drama. The bus depot is serviced by Sit n' Stare, Buck-U-Bus, and First Class Bus Lines. Charter bus service is available through Springfield Travel (slogan: "Now get outta here!"), featuring trips to Dollywood and Euro-Dollywood in Alabama.

Highways

There is the Michael Jackson Expressway (Interstate Route 401, formerly the Dalai Lama Expressway), the (incomplete) Matlock Expressway, Interstate 95, Route 202, and Rural Route 9.

It has been mentioned that there is only one bridge out of town (2F11, Bart's Comet)

Subway system

There is a subway system with a station at Third Street as seen in the episode "Bart Sells His Soul". The actual system has never been shown on the show, only mentioned in asides.

Monorail

There was a short-lived monorail system constructed using surplus municipal funds at the behest con man, Lyle Lanley. After its inaugural trip, faulty construction resulted in near disaster for Homer Simpson, the conductor, and the town of Springfield. Fearing the same fate received by Brockway, Ogdenville and North Haverbrook, three other patrons of the system, it has been left untouched since. ("Marge vs. the Monorail".)

People and culture

Most Springfielders are stupid, overweight, quick to anger and heavily perverted. As described by Dr. Julius Hibbert, it is a town where the smartest have no power and the stupidest run everything. Time magazine once did a cover story on Springfield entitled "America's Worst City," and Newsweek has referred to the city as "America's Crud Bucket". Also Springfield holds the record for world’s fattest town and most heart-attacks. It is also meant to be the Meanest City of America, according to the episode The Boys of Bummer.

Springfield has many riots with some rioters going as far as to wield weapons. Mobs form very quickly and they usually march toward the object of their anger, be it Springfield Town Hall, the local burlesque house or, as is frequently the case, the Simpson house. Principal Seymour Skinner once proudly declared, "Oh, there's no justice like angry-mob justice!"

Springfield has been the object of many lootings, as well, usually when there is a citywide blackout. Even the Simpson family house has been looted.

Religion

Main Article: Religion in The Simpsons
The largest church community is First Church of Springfield, a Presbylutheran church headed by the Reverend Timothy Lovejoy. There is also Temple Beth Springfield, led by Rabbi Hyman Krustofski, a Jewish synagogue, First A.M.E. Church of Springfield, an African American community church attended by the Hibberts, Carl Carlson(who is also a buddhist), Lou, Sideshow Raheem, Drederick Tatum, and Lucius Sweet, The Cathedral of the Downtown, a Catholic church, an Episcopal church (with vibrating pews), and Springfield Buddhist Temple. Lenny Leonard, Carl Carlson and Lisa Simpson are all practicing Buddhists. The Nahasapeemapetilons are Hindu and worship a statue of the god Ganesh in the backroom of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon's Kwik-E-Mart store. Springfield Elementary School student Dolph Starbeam attends a Hebrew school, as well, there is a group of Amish students at the school. Springfield also has Jehovah's Witnesses.

In the episode "The Joy of Sect", many Springfielders joined a cult group called the "Movementarians" but soon left after it was revealed as a fraud. According to Reverend Lovejoy in "The Simpsons: Guide to Springfield" by Matt Groening, there has also formed an alliance of people who initially split off from the Presbylutherans to worship an Inanimate Carbon Rod. There is also the "Stonecutters Lodge", (currently re-named "The Ancient Society of No-Homers") of which practically every male in the city (minus Homer Simpson) is a member. It provides a certain amount of mystical instruction, in addition to weekly rib nights, beer fests and ping-pong tournaments.

Springfield government is entirely secular. In 1963, a law was passed which banned praying on city property. "God-free since '63" is shown on mason work in one episode at city hall. Another episode showed a man being arrested for erecting a nativity scene on city property. In "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song" Superintendent Gary Chalmers fired Springfield Elementary School Principal Ned Flanders when he overhears him saying "Thank The Lord!" over the PA system, in contravention of the American Public School prohibition on prayer.

Arts and entertainment

Springfield boasts an opera house, an outdoor ampitheatre, an arboretum, a vibrant jazz scene and was once mentioned as the entertainment capital of its state. There is also an unusually high number of museums, including Springfield Museum (which features the world's largest cubic zirconia), Springfield Knowledgeum, Springfield Museum of Natural History, The Museum of Swordfish, Springsonian Museum, and a stamp museum. Springfield was once home to a Concert Hall, but this was closed down after everyone walked out after hearing the first two measures of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and turned into the Montgomery Burns State Penitentiary, as Springfieldians apparently consider Classical music as terrible and boring.

Media

Main article: Media in The Simpsons

The city paper is The Springfield Shopper. KBBL studios serves as the major media outlet. Indeed, the most popular TV station is KBBL-TV (Channel 6), with Kent Brockman, Scott Christian, and Arnie Pie ('in the Sky') on the news. KBBL is also the station on which Krusty the Clown and Sideshow Mel perform their long-running comedy show. Bill & Marty do the morning show on KBBL radio. Alternatively, Channel Ocho is a Spanish-language channel featuring Bumblebee Man, who keeps the Latino audience in stitches with his slapstick soap-opera.

Sports

There are a number of sports teams and sports arenas: the Springfield Isotopes AA baseball team (which once threatened to move to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the real-life minor league baseball team eventually changed their name to the Isotopes), the Springfield Speedway, The Springfield bull-fighting arena, a Monster Truck Rally (featuring Truckasaurus), the Springfield Atoms football team (led by Stan "The Boy" Taylor), the Springfield Stun arena football team, the Springfield Ice-otopes hockey team, the Association of Springfield Semi-Pro Boxers, and a dog track.

There are also many intramural options available to children, including youth ice hockey, football, soccer and volleyball, but the most popular sport for children is Baseball/Softball. However when Marge once said at a town meeting, "...and I love baseball" the crowd booed. It is assumed, however, that these outlets are greatly underfunded, as one season of volleyball was cancelled after Lisa Simpson accidentally popped a ball with her pointed hair.

Springfield also has its own stock car oval track, which is the scene of the death of Maude Flanders.

Springfield almost had won the rights to host the Olympics before Bart ruined it. A football team called the Springfield Meltdowns was meant to begin, but the plan was ruined when Grampa Simpson knocked out the commissioner of Football. Grampa Simpson had once been a bull fighter.

New Springfield was almost awarded an NFL franchise (the Arizona Cardinals) but Homer told their representative to "keep walking", in a reference to how bad the Cardinals franchise has been over the years.

Government

The current mayor of Springfield is Joe Quimby. Hershel Krustofski, better known as Krusty the Clown, is Springfield’s congressional representative in the United States House of Representatives. Krusty is still a representative as of the episode “The Ziff Who Came to Dinner”.

Mayor Joe Quimby is a manifestly incompetent and immoral and conspicuously corrupt and fraudulent politician. Quimby is a sleazy womanizer and has had affairs with his wife First Lady Martha Quimby. Quimby vacationed to Jamaica during a flu epidemic in Springfield and he used the town treasury to fund the murder of his victims and to later pay for his acquittal when he confessed the crime. The citizens of Springfield generally are normally accepting of this conduct, except on certain issues, such as in episode “See Homer Run” when the citizens blamed Quimby for the largest traffic jam in the history of the town. “Diamond” Joe, as he is called, has been the mayor of Springfield since the beginning of The Simpsons—so long that he’s gotten tired of having to be reelected—and has only during brief times not been mayor.

The Springfield Police Department, led by Police Chief Clancy Wiggum, is also corrupt and incompetent. It has only three officers ever serving, Chief Wiggum, Eddie and Lou. Despite all of the corruption in the department, such as accepting bribes from the mafia, police duties have been removed from Chief Wiggum and his officers on only three occasions: 1) to a posse of drunken vigilantes led by Homer Simpson in order to protect “The World’s Largest Cubic Zirconia from a cat-burglar, 2) again to Homer and his friends Lenny Leonard and Carl Carlson as "Springshield", and 3) to US Marshal Rex Banner when Wiggum was incompetently unable to stop the “Beer Baron” from illegally smuggling alcohol into Springfield during the city’s brief period of reinstated prohibition.

See: Springfield Police Department

Bob Arnold, a former congressional representative for Springfield, was expelled for “massive corruption.”

Laws

Prohibition was discovered to have been law for 200 years ("Spirituous beverages are hereby prohibited in Springfield under penalty of catapult.") and was briefly reinforced. However, this ended after further reading of the town charter found that the prohibition law was repealed one year after its inception. Besides prohibition, sugar and sugar products also were briefly banned from Springfield.

Gambling and gay marriage are legal in Springfield. Trade in children and fishing with dynamite also are legal. There are other unusual statutes in the Springfield town charter, such as "The chief constable shall receive one pig every month and two comely lasses of virtue true." and "It is illegal to put squirrels down your pants for the purpose of gambling."; kicking a can repeatedly is a felony (cited as "illegally transporting litter") and it is illegal for ducks to be pants-less in public.

Crime

Springfield is located in a state that retains the death penalty by both an electric chair and a gas chamber. Penitentiaries located in Springfield are Montgomery Burns State Penitentiary, Springfield City Jail, Springfield Correctional Institute, Springfield Juvenile Correctional Facility, Springfield Juvenile Hall, Springfield Penitentiary, Springfield Prison, Springwood Minimum Security Prison, Springfield State Penitentiary, Springfield State Prison, Springfield Women's Prison and the re-opened (after being condemned for 30 years) Morningwood Penitentiary (despite it being compleatly run-down).

Most of the organized crime in Springfield is run by mob boss Fat Tony and his henchmen, Louie, Legs and Johnny Tightlips. They have paid off the civil servants of Springfield such as in episode "Homer vs. The Eighteenth Amendment" when they paid a bribe to police officers Eddie and Lou to smuggle alcohol into the city during the reinstating of prohibition.

See also: Springfield Mafia

Education

Gary Chalmers is the current superintendent of Springfield’s school district. Public educational institutions in Springfield are Springfield Elementary School, run by Principal Seymour Skinner, West Springfield Elementary, Springfield High School, a junior high school, the Enriched Learning Center for Gifted Children, Springfield Magnet School for the Gifted and Troublesome and Rommel wood Military School. Public college institutions are Springfield Community College Extension Center, Springfield U, Springfield A & M and Springfield Heights Institute of Technology (S.H.I.T.).

Private institutions are Springfield Christian School, Ayn Rand School for Tots (run by Ms. Sinclair), Saint Sebastian's School for Wicked Girls, Miss Tillingham's School for Snotty Girls and Mama's Boys, Eastside Ruff-Form School, Springfield Preparatory School, and Springfield Extension School.

There are also extracurricular education facilities including Krusty’s Klown Kollege, Springfield Barber College, L’il Ludwig’s Music School, Springfield Animal Police Academy, and Swigmore University (bar-tending school) among others.

External links

• An interactive version of the map of Springfield
• The Simpsons Archive: Where Is The Simpsons' Springfield?