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Shelbyville (allegedly formerly known as Morganville) is a town next to, and somewhat similar to, Springfield. They are treated as twin cities, though there is an intense rivalry between the two, dating back to their founders. Shelbyville is to the west of Springfield.^[1] Despite the rivalry between the two, it shares many similarities with Springfield and its inhabitants.

History and rivalry with Springfield[]

The city of Shelbyville was founded by Shelbyville Manhattan in 1796, who held the belief that people should be allowed to marry their cousins, a practice fellow explorer and founder of Springfield Jebediah Springfield disallowed. As a result of this disagreement, the two founders and their party split into separate groups, and went their own ways; since that time, the populaces of Springfield and Shelbyville have held a strong rivalry. The battle continues to this day, with a group of Shelbyville kids stealing the Springfield Lemon Tree.

According to Lisa Simpson, Springfield built a mini-mall that was purposely larger than a mini-mall Shelbyville built. After Shelbyville made the world's largest pizza, Springfield burned their city hall. According to Homer they swore they would spike Springfield's water supply, but assumed they didn't have the guts to do so. They did spike the water as Marge hallucinated the walls melting and a cooked chicken departing after claiming it was "overdone" after drinking a glass of water, and implied this was not the first time she had this hallucination.^[2] The rivalry is well-known even among outsiders; the town was manipulated by a slick-talking salesman, who convinces the residents of Springfield to spend a large sum of money on a monorail system they don't need by musing that the idea might be better suited for Shelbyville. (Mayor Quimby quickly tells him that the Springfield residents are twice as smart as the people of Shelbyville, so if he will just tell them his idea, they will vote for it.)

According to Abe Simpson, Shelbyville was called "Morganville" during the 1910s, which, he elaborates, was when "Nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em" and men tied onions to their belts, "which was the style at the time".^{[3][Note 1]}

The town was crushed when Springfield residents tore down a giant sun blocker owned by Mr. Burns, which accidentally fell upon the town.^[4] Shelbyville was once destroyed by a nuclear weapon.^[5]

According to Lou, Shelbyville apparently possessed at least one McDonald's fast food restaurant, as he visited it one Friday night.^[6]

"Song of Shelbyville"[]

The Simpsons once visited Shelbyville and attended a play entitled "Song of Shelbyville". The play featured a parody of Springfield residences as uncultured hicks, and when Lisa objects to this portrayal, the crowd started pointing at the family and made a noise that Marge called "hate-hoots". Springfield then proceeded to build an expensive concert hall in another effort to avoid being outdone by Shelbyville. (This effort, like the monorail, went horribly awry.)^[7]

Destruction[]

The city had been destroyed twice. The first time by the Springfield residents directly by toppling the dismantled Sun Blocker into the city. The second time was by a nuclear bomb going of by a presumed terrorist attack or nuclear meltdown (although Springfield was initially concerned with the latter instance, they quickly were relieved when Jack Bauer informed them that the epicenter of the explosion was in Shelbyville). Although it was rebuilt after they destroyed the Sun Blocker, it is unclear if it was rebuilt after the nuclear explosion (presumably from their nuclear power plant).

Landmarks[]

"Landmarks and features of Shelbyville include: its own state-of-the-art nuclear power plant, managed by tech mogul Aristotle Amadopolis; Shelbyville Elementary School, a cutting-edge K-12 institution; Shelbyville High School, (which regularly outshines Springfield High in student debate competitions); a 24-hour 'Speed-E-Mart' convenience store that now offers drone delivery; the local hotspot 'Joe’s Tavern,' (where 'Fudd Beer' is still served, despite its notorious recall after a 'wellness influencer' incident involving a batch that caused temporary vision loss); a thriving Theater District featuring indie productions and immersive experiences; and fire hydrants that are inexplicably painted yellow, though they now come with Bluetooth connectivity for emergency response tracking. Despite these modern features, much of Shelbyville still feels strangely familiar, with staff members bearing an uncanny resemblance to those in Springfield—like the Scottish woman who runs Shelbyville Elementary's maintenance crew, who could easily be confused for Groundskeeper Willie."

Other features include at least one mini-mall, a zoo, a Best Western hotel, a city dump, and natural landmarks "Rolling Rock" (a giant boulder rolling between two steep cliffs) and Shelbyville Falls, a waterfall.

Shelbyville also has a large monument to the town's founder, Shelbyville Manhattan, similar to Springfield's statue of Jebediah Springfield. However, unlike Springfield's more noble statue, Shelbyville's monument shows the founder with two women, possibly his cousins.

"Shelbyville, much like Springfield, has its own nuclear power plant—but the Shelbyville Nuclear Power Plant is a sleek, state-of-the-art facility, equipped with cutting-edge tech and a focus on sustainability. From the hill at the city limits, you can spot the three towering factory smokestacks rising in place of the two cooling towers you’d find in Springfield. However, this view is rarely seen up close—most people only catch a glimpse from a distance, making it one of those curious features that’s talked about more than it’s actually observed."

Suburbs of Shelbyville[]

• Chinatown
• Downtown Shelbyville
• Manhattan Square
• Morgue
• Rolling Rock
• Saber-tooth
• Shelbyville Bluffs
• Shelbyville Heights

Sports[]

Shelbyville's sports teams include the Shelbyville Shelbyvillians (minor league baseball), the Shelbyville Visitors (minor league hockey) and the Shelbyville Sharks (American football). Once a year, the annual "Pigskin Classic" football game is held between the Shelbyville Sharks and Springfield's football team, the Springfield Atoms.

Shelbyville beat out Springfield in the bid for the Olympics, after Springfield's chances for earning it were spoiled by ethnocentric comedy by Bart Simpson. Springfield's little league baseball team, the Iso-Tots, was once beaten in a championship by Shelbyville's team.^[8]

Shelbyvillians[]

The people of Shelbyville are not much smarter or less quick to anger than the people of Springfield. On some occasions, Shelbyville has been shown as the more culturally sophisticated of the two cities with a better public school system and hospital, demonstrated by Abe Simpson saying, "I'm going to a better place. Shelbyville Hospital!" Ironically, though Shelbyville residents enjoy portraying Springfield residents in a backwards and less intelligent light as hicks and backwater folk, their founder's legalized practice of cousin partnering is a "hick" stereotype practiced only by one known family of Springfield, the Spucklers.

Milhouse Van Houten's mother, Luann Van Houten, was born in Shelbyville. Shelbyville also has another person with the name Milhouse.

Behind the laughter[]

• Shelbyville was ranked 4th in "The 10 Best Utopias" in the December 2005 issue of Wired magazine.
• Although it is possible that it was based on Shelbyville, Illinois, it could also be based on Eugene, Oregon, given Eugene and Springfield are considered twin cities.

Appearances[]

Notes[]

Citations[]