“Simpsons” Creator Reveals Springfield Location

The creator of "The Simpsons" has blown the lid off on of TV's best-kept secrets.Matt Groening announced in an interview with the online version of Smithsonian magazine that the real Springfield is located in Oregon, 100 miles south of Portland, Groening's hometown.

Groening explained that he was inspired by the 1950's TV series "Father Knows Best", which also took place in a town called Springfield, telling Smithsonian, "When I grew up, I realized it was just a fictitious name. I also figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the U.S."

Springfield, Ore., community-relations manager Niel Laudati responded to the show's less-than-flattering portayal of the town by saying, "We kind of got past it. We don't dwell on the bad stuff. Obviously we don't have a nuclear power plant. We don't have a lot of stuff in the Simpsons."

Laudati added, "What we do have are a lot of blue-collar working families that go to church every week and eat dinner together. That is accurate."