SPRINGFIELD'S STATE

'Springfield's state'

State flag of North Tacoma
State Motto: ''Not just another state''
'Capital'	Capital City
'Nickname'
'Governor'	Mary Bailey[1]
'Known Congressional Representatives'	Rich Texan (Senator), Krusty the Clown (Congressman)
'Area'	Unknown
'USPS'	NT, TA, USA
'State Bird'	Potbellied sparrow
'State Pasta'	Bow tie

'Springfield's state' (the name is never mentioned) is the state in which the fictional American town of Springfield in the TV show The Simpsons is located. The state capital is Capital City.

Contents

History

Locations

Economy

Geography

Politics

Education

Transportation

Real life location

See also

References

History

The state was founded by circus freaks, and was believed to be the location of New Sodom, due to misinterpreting a passage in the Bible. However, settlers heading for the New Sodom instead founded Springfield,^[1] built on Puritan values, and Shelbyville, built on marriage between cousins.^[1]

Locations

The state has a Springfield County in which the city of Springfield is located. There is also a Swartzwelder County, named after Simpsons writer John Swartzwelder, which borders Springfield County.^[1] There is also the very rural Spittle County, which claims to be the birthplace of the loogie. Other cities in the state include: Shelbyville, chief rival of Springfield; Cypress Creek, founded by the Globex Corporation and Capital City. Catfish Lake is known for its fishing and marriage retreats. There is also the unpopular community of Stenchburg. There are also the towns with the scary names of Terror Lake, Cape Fear, New Horrorfield, Bloodbath Gultch, and Screamville, and towns with the chaste names of Frigid Falls, Mount Seldom and Lake Flaccid. Springfield's Pee-Wee Football team defeated "Victory City" in Bart Star, although that does not necessarily mean it is within Springfield's state.

Economy

The state is made up of mainly agricultural land, with occasional large cities such as Capital City and small and medium-sized towns such as Springfield. The farms mainly grow corn, livestock, dairy, fruit, cotton, tobacco, tomacco and for a time hemp, while within the cities, the main industries are brewing by the Duff and Fudd beer corporations, coal mining, casinos, manufacture of boxes, pillows, food (including crackers), copper, iron, steel, industrial equipment, dangerous chemicals and retail. This balance means that most of the population works in low paid jobs, mostly blue collar.
Despite this, several wealthy citizens exist, most famously Charles Montgomery Burns (a utilities magnate), Aristotle Amadopoulos (another utilities magnate), Rich Texan (a business owner), Hank Scorpio (a crime lord who would later seize the Eastern Seaboard) and Artie Ziff (an entrepreneur).
The state features at least three international airports: Springfield International, Shelbyville International and Capital City International. Springfield also has a nuclear power plant, a naval base, an army base and an air force base, providing jobs.
The state includes both areas of high wealth (the former Old Springfield, the center of Capital City), and slum areas (Capital City outskirts, New Springfield). Because of this, the state becomes very polarized, with constant feuds between upper and lower class citizens over issues as petty as telephone area codes.

Geography

The state is heavily polluted due to years of lax controls, corrupt government, greedy business and Mafia influence. Toxic waste is crammed into every crack, and Lake Springfield contains mutated three-eyed fish. Despite this, the state has a wide array of wildlife, including grizzly bears, bald eagles, and manatees.
The terrain of the state is varied; it is a coastal state with desert and badlands, mountain ranges almost as high as Mount Everest, lush forest, valleys, plains and huge areas of farmland.
The state is a northern state that was on the Union side during the Civil War - the fact that the state flag has a Confederate flag on it makes it all the more embarrassing for the state's population.

Politics

Mary Bailey, a Democrat, is the Governor and was first seen in "Two Cars In Every Garage, Three Eyes On Every Fish", although at least two of the state's congressional representatives (Rich Texan and Krusty the Clown) are Republican. There is also a radio show host named Birch Barlow who is a right-winger. Additionally, Springfield's state is seen in the season three episode "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington" to have a corrupt senator named Bob Arnold, whom Lisa overhears taking a bribe for the rights to demolish Springfield Forest.

Education

The state follows a standard education system, with elementary schools, junior high schools and high schools. However, the state has a very low education budget; schools can only afford to buy books other schools have banned, they are forced to cancel all artistic and physical education, and must rent out classrooms as prison cells to make ends meet. The most extreme example of this is Springfield Elementary School, which was moved from Missouri brick by brick after reaching bottom of the state league table. The state is also home to Springfield University, Springfield A&M (which was founded by a cow), and the unfortunately-acronymed Springfield Heights Institute of Technology.

Transportation

The state has a comprehensive Interstate Highway system, linking to Oregon, Michigan, New Jersey, Texas and "some other state." Interstate 95 was depicted in one of the episodes. The area also has a good rail network, with both passenger and freight services. The area's several international airports also provide a strong transport link with destinations in the state, other US states, and the world.
Another, less orthodox system is the monorail system installed in Springfield, Brockway, Ogdenville and North Haverbrook, since closed for safety reasons.

Real life location

The uncertain location of Springfield is a running gag in the series. There are 34 states in the United States that have at least one community with that name. Where Is Springfield on "The Simpsons?" Basile, Nancy Episodes frequently make fun of the fact that Springfield's state has never been revealed, by adding further conflicting descriptions, obscuring onscreen map representations, and interrupting conversational references. There has been much speculation on the location of the state. A web page discussing Springfield's location states that, due to the many contradictory clues, it is impossible for Springfield to exist in any set location.^[5]
David Silverman, a director for the Simpsons, has claimed that Springfield is in the fictional state of "North Tacoma" (or "North Takoma"). This is substantiated by the state abbreviations NT and TA used within the show. However, this has never been officially confirmed in any canonical episode of ''The Simpsons'' or by other Simpsons producers. Homer's driver license displays the state as NT and the ZIP code as 49007 (Kalamazoo, Michigan)^[6].
In ''The Simpsons Movie'', the idea that the state cannot exist for real is further emphasized when Ned Flanders identifies the four bordering states as Ohio, Nevada, Maine and Kentucky, all of which are vastly separated.^[7] To promote the movie, various towns and cities across the United States called Springfield competed to hold the premiere of the movie in their town. Springfields from many different states entered the competition.^[8] The town of Springfield, Vermont was elected to host the movie's premiere.^[9][10]

See also

★ List of fictional places on The Simpsons

References

1.
2.
3.
4.
5. Where Is The Simpsons' Springfield? Hughes, Sam
6. Kalamazoo Zip Code
7. Springfield of dreams Richmond, Ray
8. Springfield hopes to host 'Simpsons' premiere Associated Press
9. 'The Simpsons Movie' Hometown Premiere Contest Clark Cindy
10. Peace, Granola and Now 'The Simpsons' Carry McGourty