'The Simpsons' map of Portland (What other proof do you need that they're Oregonians?)
- ️https://www.facebook.com/josephjrose
- ️Sat May 05 2012
View full sizeFox BroadcastingMaggie, Homer, Lisa, Marge and Bart Simpson still rolling in their 23rd season.
To quote Moe the bartender, "Whaaaaaaa???"
Last month, Matt Groening revealed to the Smithsonian magazine that the iconic cartoon family on "The Simpsons" were, like his own clan, Oregonians.
Fans of the ridiculously enduring show, who had been kept in the dark about the location of "Springfield" for 25 years, acted as if they had just unearthed the Holy Grail.
But then, a few days later, Groening said it was all a big misinterpretation on par with the episode where Lisa gives little Ralphie a friendly valentine with a picture of a locomotive on it that says, "I Choo Choo Choose You."
""I never said Springfield was in Oregon," the Portland-raised creator of America's longest-running TV sitcom said. "I said Springfield was the name of my sled."
Worst. Backpedal. Ever.
Talk about pulling a Homer.
No re-do'hs. Snowball V is out of the bag.
One need only drive, bike or take the monorail (actually, we have a tram) around Portland to to see the signs pointing to the Simpsons' home. (Psst! It's gotta be Oregon.)
Judge for yourself with this map -- perfect for a Simpsons-themed weekend road trip in the city.
Hey, hey! Are we missing a Simpsons-related landmark or street in the Portland area? Leave a comment below.
View full sizeDavid Badders and Mims Copeland/The Oregonian
742 S.W. Evergreen Terrace
Matt Groening’s childhood home in the West Hills, where he grew up with parents Homer and Margaret and siblings Lisa, Patty and Maggie. None of the Groenings still reside here. So, please don’t knock, asking if Bart can play.
Lincoln High School, Southwest 18th Avenue just south of Salmon Street
Groening drew and signed a sidewalk portrait of Bart Simpson in wet concrete outside his alma mater. “Class of 1972” appears next to Bart as he strikes his classic “Don’t have a cow, man!” pose.
Northeast Flanders Street
Well
! The city of Portland once had to replace several “NE FLANDERS” signs after someone spray-painted a “D” after the signs’ “NE.” It spelled out the name of the show’s cheerfully super-duper-churchy neighbor Ned Flanders. And that’s absotively posilutely a one-way ticket to the Springfield church’s “heck house.”
Southwest Terwilliger Boulevard
Just as the rush-hour traffic in the Terwilliger Curves never seems to go away, culturally sophisticated jailbird
just keeps coming back in his quest to exact revenge on Bart.
Northwest Quimby Street
Very well. Ay, oh, ay, we now proclaim this street to officially be the inspiration for Springfield’s corrupt, philandering,
“Diamond Joe Quimby.” A little fact: The street was named for L.P.W. Quimby, who was one of Portland’s early hotel owners but never mayor.
Northwest Kearney Street
“Quit hitting yourself! Quit hitting yourself!” Kearney, one of the show’s classic schoolyard bullies, gets his name from this.
— and that really makes them feel like administering a wedgie.
North Van Houten Avenue
In case you forgot — and he’s just timorous enough to worry that you will — nasally, bespectacled Milhouse Van Houten is Bart’s sorta best friend. Groening has insisted this one’s a coincidence. But he might be just saying that because he’s worried Milhouse will trade the deed to his soul to Comic Book Guy for
. Remember pogs? They’re coming back.
Montgomery Park and Burnside Street
Montgomery Burns, the
evil owner of the Springfield Nuclear Plant, is actually a mashup of two locales. Like the Montgomery Park sign, his nuclear plant’s Trojan-esque cooling towers glow at night. Groening has said a childhood pal thought his nighttime prayers went to what used to be the Montgomery Ward sign in Northwest Portland.
Northwest Lovejoy Street
It’s hard to know what the hyperserious the Rev. Timothy Lovejoy would think of being named after a street. This is, after all, a man who is offended by the word “but” — yes, with one “t.” So now, “please rise for our opening hymn,
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.