Best Web Design in Springfield, OR (2026)

Web Design for Springfield, Oregon

Springfield is the blue-collar mill town that Matt Groening quietly immortalized as the home of The Simpsons, a secret he kept for decades before confirming it publicly in 2012. Founded in 1848 beside a prairie spring and long shaped by timber and hazelnut farming, the city today balances a working-class 'Springtucky' identity with an official Simpsons mural downtown. It also gave the world Nancy's Yogurt and hosted early Grateful Dead benefit concerts at Springfield Creamery.

AppWT works with Springfield, OR businesses from Livonia, Michigan, mostly online and travelling as needed.

About Springfield

Also known as. Simpson Land / The Simpsons' hometown. Springtucky.

History. Settled in 1848 by Elias and Mary Briggs and named for a natural spring on the prairie within the current city limits. Incorporated February 25, 1885. Grew as a timber and mill town; Weyerhaeuser operated a major lumber mill in Springfield from 1949 onward, and the Booth-Kelly Lumber Company was an early economic engine. The city's 2020 population was 61,851, making it Oregon's ninth-most populous city. Its identity was long shaped as the working-class counterpart to more affluent, university-driven Eugene across the Willamette River.

Local economy. Historically dependent on timber, the economy diversified heavily after the 1990s. PeaceHealth, operator of the Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend, is the largest employer with roughly 3,500 workers. Other major employers include McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center (~940) and the Springfield Public School District (~1,380). Regional agriculture centers on hazelnuts (filberts); Oregon's Willamette Valley grows the overwhelming majority of the U.S. hazelnut crop. Springfield Creamery, maker of Nancy's Yogurt, was founded in 1960 by Chuck Kesey (brother of author Ken Kesey) and his wife Sue.

Culture and community. The Official Simpsons Mural (500 Main St, installed 2014 on the Emerald Art Center) was a collaboration between series creator Matt Groening and 20th Century Fox artist Julius Preite, depicting the family against Oregon's Three Sisters mountains. Additional Simpsons character artworks (Mr. Burns, Ned Flanders, Chief Wiggum) are painted on buildings around downtown, with a self-guided mural walking tour. The Grateful Dead played a series of benefit concerts for Springfield Creamery in the 1970s, the first on August 27, 1972. The Springfield Filbert Festival celebrated the local hazelnut economy annually from 1990 until it ended in the mid-2000s. Downtown hosts a Second Friday Art Walk anchored by the Emerald Art Center.

What makes Springfield distinct. Matt Groening grew up in Portland and named the fictional Simpsons town after Springfield, Oregon, keeping the real inspiration secret for years so viewers could imagine their own hometown; he confirmed it to Smithsonian magazine in 2012. In the 2007 USA Today contest among 14 real Springfields to host The Simpsons Movie premiere, Springfield, Oregon placed third; Springfield, Vermont won and hosted the premiere. Actor Clint Eastwood worked in Springfield as a log setter/bronc operator for the Weyerhaeuser mill before his acting career. A city seal was once assembled by Russell Ziolkowski from odd objects recovered from Springfield's sewer system, drawing national TV attention.

Springfield Landmarks and Local Life

• Dorris Ranch - a 250-acre living-history farm that is one of the oldest continuously operating hazelnut (filbert) farms in the United States
• The Washburne Historic District - a downtown area listed on the National Register of Historic Places
• The Richard E. Wildish Community Theater - a restored historic movie house (former McKenzie Theater) reopened in December 2006
• The Willamette and McKenzie rivers and nearby Willamette National Forest for recreation.
• The 'old Springfield' hillside sign referenced in the Simpsons mural.