So Where the Hell is Springfield:

The Mysteries and Inconsistencies of "The Simpsons"

   Where, indeed.  At least twice the two-letter postal abbreviation for Springfield's state is given as NT (8F01, "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington"; 9F14, "Duffless"), yet it is also given in 8F01 as TA.  The zip code, according to the episode capsule at www.snpp.com, is 192005.  This is six digits, obviously one too many.  The removal of any one digit except the first one would result in an East Coast locale; but the removal of the one would result in a Pacific zip code.  (92101, for example, is a zip code in San Diego, California; 19090 is a zip code in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania; 12201 is a zip code in Albany, New York.)

    NT is the more commonly accepted one since in 9F14 it appears on Homer's driver's license as the state.  I have read in one source that the producers claim it stands for "North Takoma", obviously not a real state and seemingly a reference to the Pacific Northwest (Tacoma, Washington, which is outside of Seattle).  So is Springfield in the Pacific Northwest?

    The radio station that Bill and Marty work for is KBBL 102.5 FM; it is the station from which Bart wins the elephant in 1F15, "Bart Gets an Elephant".  Kirk Van Houten's girlfriend Starla temped at K-ZUG 530 AM in 4F04, "A Milhouse Divided".  And Lisa plays the Bleeding Gums Murphy record at KJAZZ in 2F32, "Round Springfield".  (Yeah, that's too many call letters, but we'll let it go.)  Yet in 8F14, "Homer Alone", the official radio station of Rancho Relaxo (which is in the Springfield mountains) is "Coma - WKOMA".  This is also too many call letters, but the first one is a W, which would indicate a station no further west than Chicago.  But despite this inconsistency, there are enough "K" radio stations in Springfield to suggest a Western locale.

    In addition, Springfield has a river (only predominantly mentioned in 3F01, "Home Sweet Homediddly-dum-doodily", but Bart catches fish in it in 7F01, "Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish", and Nelson catches trout in it in 2F22, "Lemon of Troy") and is also on an ocean.  The ocean is very noticeable in 3F24, "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer", when Homer goes to the lighthouse.  Besides, there must be an ocean if there is a harbor (9F19, "Krusty Gets Kancelled") and a South Street Squidport (4F13, "My Sister, My Sitter"), even though the Squidport's name parodies New York's South Street Seaport.  It also has mountains (4F10, "Mountain of Madness"; 5F16, "King of the Hill"), and in the United States, the highest mountains by far are found out west.

    So if it's on an ocean and has a K in the call letters, it could only be (if it were a real state, anyway) California, Oregon, or Washington.   BUT:

    1) Little Pwagmattasquarmsettport (3F22, "Summer of 4 ft. 2") seems to suggest a New England locale, like Massachusetts or Rhode Island, and I highly doubt that the Simpsons drove from the Pacific Ocean all the way to the Atlantic.

    2) The Pacific coast of the United States would most likely not be hit by a hurricane (4F07, "Hurricane Neddy").  So Homer was probably right when he told Lisa "There's no record of a hurricane ever hitting Springfield," because it wouldn't have happened.

    Springfield does have badlands and alkali flats, both of which seem to suggest a somewhat Western location.  Yet although Springfield, to possess all the mountains, badlands, etc. would have to stretch out over an insanely large area for just one city, and although the view from up where the weather station is (1F03, "Marge on the Lam") appears to parody the view of Los Angeles that is sometimes seen in movies (I believe E.T. is a notable example of that), Springfield is almost always referred to by characters as a small town rather than a big city (5F09, "Trash of the Titans": Marge: You've turned our wonderful little town into America's trashhole.), despite the fact that it never seems to end (and has an international airport).

    Another point: in 2F11, "Bart's Comet", the "only bridge out of town" is mentioned.  This means that Springfield must be on a peninsula and surrounded on three sides by water; otherwise there would be some other means of escape.  Out west, San Francisco, California is the only major city on a peninsula that I can think of.

    Another big clue: Cape Feare (9F22, "Cape Feare") is located along the same river that Springfield is, because the houseboat is able to drift from Cape Feare all the way back to Springfield.  If the Simpsons had made any sizable move at all, this would suggest a fair-sized river, and in the Pacific Northwest, the only large river that empties into the Pacific is the Columbia River, which runs along the border of Washington and Oregon and hits the ocean near Portland.

    So is Springfield just a big parody of Portland, Oregon?

    The writers love to tease about the state Springfield is in.  For one thing, many, many states in America have towns named Springfield.   New Jersey does, Massachusetts does, and obviously Illinois does, to name just three.  In addition to the use of NT, there are numerous teases.

    For example, 2F17, "Radioactive Man": when the movie producer decides to film in Springfield, he says "Get me two tickets to the state that Springfield is in."  This is a double pun: 1) That applies to quite a number of states, 2) They're not revealing the name of the state.  In 7F01, "Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish", Mr. Burns and Mary Bailey are in a race for governor, yet the name of the state is never mentioned.  The state motto is: "Not just another state."  Indeed...

    In addition, there are the audible teases: AABF03, "Lisa Gets An A":

    Chalmers: Good Lord, what a dump.  It's not surprising this school was once classified the most dilapidated in all of Missouri. ... That's why it was shut down and moved here, brick by brick.

    And in AABF08, "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday" (in addition, this is pointed out at www.snpp.com: Springfield must be in at least 5-7 hours driving range of Miami since they left at what appeared to be sunrise in Springfield. This points to the states of Florida, Alabama and Georgia. [But who's to say they only drove for one day?]): Marge: 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield, Oh, hiya Maude! (Obviously a joke on Ohio.)

    By the way, the question of where Springfield is took a bizarre turn with the unbelievably stupid ending of 5F09, "Trash of the Titans", in which the town is picked up and moved five miles down the road.  This is right up there with some of the stupidest plot devices in Simpsons history, all of which seem to have come in Seasons Nine and Ten.

    The mystery of where exactly Springfield is may never be solved, although barring the major inconsistencies, most signs point to a city like Portland, Oregon. 

    How about the Simpsons' address?  It's not fully consistent either.  Though in general it is 742 Evergreen Terrace, it isn't always.   A noticeable listing of the address is in 4F01, "Lisa's Date with Density", where it is given as 742.  In 8F01, "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington", Homer's "You May Be a Winner!" junk mail bears the address 59 Evergreen Terrace.  In 9F14, "Duffless", Homer's driver's license lists the address as 742 Evergreen Terrace, but changes the zip code to 49007.  This zip code is one that might be used in Michigan (which by the way has a Springfield, zip code 49015).  8F16, "Bart the Lover", changes the address again, to 94 Evergreen Terrace, and gives Springfield a 00913 zip code.  00913 is not a zip code of an actual U.S. state (though my mom points out that it may be an APO or U.S. Virgin Islands zip).

    So anyway, that's some of the clues and hideous inconsistencies of The Simpsons' locale in a nutshell.  For more information than you could possibly ever want, visit www.snpp.com, which is where I picked up some of my info.  If you have any info that you think should be added to this page, or if you just want to join the argument, or if you think I have way too much free time, drop me a line at robert@bigflax.com.

OTHERS JOIN THE DEBATE!

    Chipper630@aol.com writes: "I noticed in the episode where Homer joins the naval reserve (3G04, "Simpson Tide") that Springfield is on the west coast.  During the war games, a map is shown where the ship is pulling out of Springfield harbor. It is clearly on the west coast (and near a peninsula) and as the ship goes further to the west it encounters Russian waters.  The angle that the course was at suggested a California locale, probably farther north (but that is just a guess).
    "Also, in the episode where Skinner and Willie steal the bikes at the end and ride away, they say they are going to ride to Mexico.  (A little inaccurate; this is from 9F18, "Whacking Day", and what actually happens is that Skinner plans to use mountain bikes to bribe Dolph, Jimbo, Kearney, and Nelson to not sue for being locked in the basement for a very long time.  When Willie asks what happens if they're dead, Skinner replies that he and Willie will ride the bikes "to Mexico, and to freedom!"  But I'm just being pedantic.)  So it is probably in the middle of California.  I don't think they would ride to Mexico if they were closer to Canada."  (Well, Canada might extradite.)

    willi139@hotmail.com writes: "You forgot the episode where Homer spills a drink on his console at the nuclear power plant and the lights in New York go out.  Also, Skinner refers to his accent as being from Albany; Krusty is from NYC; and the Simpsons have visited Buffalo and Albany.  Anyway, it's not on any coast; the writers couldn't make the show as funny if they were limited to the state they were in.  That's the beauty of cartoons."
    Well, the "the nerds on the internet are not geeks" people at snpp.com have ruled out a number of states operating on how they are mentioned in the show.  New York is one of them, since in 8F01, "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington," New York is among the states (Alabama and Minnesota are the others) mentioned as having their own essay contests, as does the state Springfield is in.
    Plus, despite the above examples cited by willi139, Springfield all but has to be west of the Mississippi, since the call letters of its radio stations begin with K - 102.5, KBBL, is the most commonly used; it's the station for which Bill and Marty work and as such is the one most often listened to by the Simpsons.  Unless Springfield is localized within the city of Pittsburgh, and I don't think it would be, it's west of the Mississippi.  So forget New York.  And just because "steamed hams" is an Albany expression (according to Skinner in 3F18, "Twenty-Two Short Films about Springfield") doesn't mean the show takes place in New York; neither does Krusty's town of origin or visits to anywhere.  And not even in the Adirondacks does New York have mountains as high as those in 5F16, "King of the Hill."
    As for "it's not on any coast," what?  It's clearly on a coast of some form, even if it's only a river coast - and the expanse of the water at the coast would seem to indicate an ocean or a very large lake - and one that connects to the sea at that, since it has a port.  Given the locations of the Great Lakes, and the fact that Springfield has to be west of the Mississippi, it pretty much has to be on the Pacific Ocean.
    In the end, all of these arguments can be shown to have exceptions, which if nothing else proves one of two things: 1) the writers are intentionally leading us on; or 2) there's some major miscommunication between the writers as to where Springfield is.  But let's face it, Springfield isn't in a real state.

UPDATED WHERE IS SPRINGFIELD?

    Most recently, in BABF19, "Behind the Laughter" (which aired on May 21, 2000), the announcer refers to the Simpsons as a "Northern Kentucky family."  This would appear to give it away until you think about it: Kentucky isn't on an ocean, and it doesn't have any desert-like "badland" areas as Springfield does... so it's just another red herring.