The Portland/Simpsons Nexus - Part 2

Anyone who calls themselves a Simpsons fan knows that they live on Evergreen Terrace. The diehard fans know that in the first few seasons the specific address jumped around. The same house has been shown as being 59, 94 and 1094 Evergreen Terrace. In “Kamp Krusty” there was a huge departure and they lived at 430 Spalding Way for some reason. However, since “Marge in Chains” in the 4th season the Simpsons address has been officially designated as 742 Evergreen Terrace. The funny thing is that address was used earlier in the season ("Homer's Triple Bypass") as the home of Snake.

The Portland connection comes from the fact that Matt Groening grew up living on SW Evergreen Terrace in Portland. Naturally, I had to visit this street myself and walk in Matt’s childhood footsteps. My map showed that this street was tucked away in the West Hills, just north of the Zoo. Turned out the roads in this area are extremely hilly, twisty and generally confusing. Even though I had printed out directions and a detailed map of the area, I was lost for a good half hour before turning up a street marked “Dead End” which eventually lead me to my destination. I parked my car at the intersection of Evergreen Lane and Evergreen Terrace and was surprised to find that the street was little more than a gravel road consisting of only six houses.

Even though the gentle spring showers we were experiencing that day was quickly transforming themselves into an all out downpour, I took my time walking up the deserted road carefully examining each house and wondering if this was the one that Matt grew up in. As it turns out, the inspiration for the names of the Simpsons characters were also inspired by the people in that house. Homer was the name of Matt’s dad. His mom was Margaret, and even though the mom in the show is Marjorie they both have the nickname of Marge. Lisa and Maggie were his sisters, although the full name of Lisa Marie Simpson was also inspired by Lisa Marie Presley. Abraham was Matt’s grandfather even though the writers clam they chose the name randomly and were unaware of the connection. The name of Bart is an anagram for “brat” which Matt used to describe himself even if Bart’s personality was based on his older brother Mark.

The “J” that seems to be so popular in characters names (Homer J. Simpson, Bartholomew J. Simpson, Abraham J. Simpson…) is a reference to Bullwinkle J. Moose. So it comes as no surprise that in “D'oh-in in the Wind” we find out that Homer’s middle initial stands for “Jay” since Jay Ward is Bullwinkle’s creator.

I realized it was time to leave when a woman who was working in her garden asked me what I was doing. It wasn’t until that point I realized that a strange, tall male in a black leather coat slowly making his way up this secluded street in the rain, examining the houses and using his phone to photograph each one at a time when everyone else was at work might seem just a little suspicious if not down right creepy. So, I’m probably on some neighborhood watch list now but I got what I was after. Unfortunately, I have yet to find the actual address of Matt’s childhood home. I was also disappointed that all address were in the 3000-s meaning that 742 Evergreen Terrace exists only in that fictional Springfield.