Springfield (The Simpsons) be a specific real town, although the producers acknowledge basing the town on numerous locations including "The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening's hometown of Portland, Oregon, and Mike Scully's hometown, Springfield, Massachusetts. Groening named Springfield after Springfield, Oregon, and also took inspiration from Springfield being the fictitious setting of the series "Father Knows Best". He said, "I also figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the U.S. In anticipation of the success of the show, I thought, 'This will be cool; everyone will think it's their Springfield.' And they do." Groening liked "Second
Springfield (The Simpsons) America, ["The Simpsons"] is most popular in Springfields in Virginia, Minnesota and New Jersey, and least popular in Springfields in Louisiana, Arkansas and Georgia". Springfield was founded in 1796 by a group led by Jebediah Springfield (in reality a cover identity for notorious pirate Hans Sprungfeld) who, after misinterpreting a passage in the Bible, left Maryland (which may be a small clue as to depict Springfield's location; not in Maryland) trying to find "New Sodom." After he refused to found a town where men were free to marry their cousins, half of the group left. The dissenters founded the nearby