The Simpsons/Everett Connection
Editor’s note: Originally published November 29, 2018.
Q: What does Wiggums Hollow Park in North Everett have to do with Chief Clancy Wiggum from The Simpsons?
A: Everything, actually.
Simpsons creator Matt Groening’s mother, Marge Wiggum, grew up in Everett on Grand Avenue.
Groening’s uncle, Arnold Wiggum, was the principal at Hawthorne Elementary School. The Delta Neighborhood's Wiggums Hollow Park is named after him.*
And, of course, Springfield's donut-eating cartoon police officer is in turn named after Groening's relatives.
Groeing's mom went to Everett High School in the 1930s. She worked in downtown Everett at Sears.
In the 1937 Everett High School yearbook Marge Wiggum is described as “a favorite among all.” Hmm. Sounds like another Marge we know.
But the maybe most interesting Springfield/Everett connection is the matching tire fires.
(Note: this video is likely not of the actual Everett, WA tire fire referenced below.)
Didn’t know about our city’s great tire fire?
It burned from September 1984 to May 1985. It was a mountain of 4 million tires piled up on the spot where the new Riverside development now sits.
In a move that was a 100% forehead-smacking environmental no-no, some huckster started hauling old tires there at 25 cents apiece. The 10 acre dump site was next to the Snohomish River. How. Why.
A mountain of tires = a huge concentration of petroleum product; not easily extinguished once set ablaze. And set ablaze it was by partying teens one night (mullets and acid-washed jeans. Van Halen. A stray cigarette).
It took firefighters months to put out Everett's “Mount Firestone” as it dissolved into toxic puddles of flaming black goop. Reportedly it released pockets of trapped methane that sent jets of fire thirty feet into the air.
Cute.
The Simpsons intro. Catch the Springfield tire fire at 0:05.
Some people on the internet speculate that the Everett tire fire was the inspiration behind the Springfield tire fire. It’s definitely possible, given that apparently a lot of details in the Simpsons oeuvre are drawn from real life (Matt Groening’s father was named... wait for it... Homer).
So there you have it. The full tale of how the fictional Springfield of Simpsons fame is only a degree removed from IRL Everett, Washington. It’s a great story to tell to your buddies at the Soundview.
Or wherever your Moe’s Tavern is.
*I'm unsure how Wiggums Hollow Park lost its possessive apostrophe over the years. Technically, the park is grammatically incorrect, but hey.
WIGGUMS HOLLOW PARK
A 10-acre recreation area with a playground, skate park, ball fields & public art.
2808 10th St, Everett, WA 98201
(425) 257-8300
Richard Porter writes for Live in Everett.