Springfield, Oregon renovation project, completed at a cost of $3.1 million. There are 15 elementary, 4 middle, and 4 high schools in the Springfield School District, making it one of the largest in the state. The largest public high schools, by enrollment, are Thurston High School and Springfield High School. Pioneer Pacific College also has a campus in the Gateway area of Springfield. The city took third in the voting to choose one of the sixteen possible Springfields in the U.S. to host the premiere of "The Simpsons Movie." The show's creator, Oregon resident Matt Groening, sent a plaque to the city
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