Smallville, KS

[Clark Kent 86]

I was wondering if Smallville were a real town where in Kansas do you think it would be located. The Northern or Southern part of Kansas, around Wichita? Try using the clues from the show to determine where it would be or just make your best guess.

[Lexgirl33]

It would probably really close to Illinois, since its only a 3 hr drive to metropolis..so my guess is on the east side of the state.

[superman79]

Originally posted by Lexgirl33
It would probably really close to Illinois, since its only a 3 hr drive to metropolis..so my guess is on the east side of the state.

Rose, you never cease to amaze me! I live 2 hrs from Metropolis, isn't that cool. I'm so glad you are one of the people who like SV. I have had to defend the show to some and it's refreshing to find someone who is enjoying it.

[Rosey]

Originally posted by Clark Kent 86
I was wondering if Smallville were a real town where in Kansas do you think it would be located. The Northern or Southern part of Kansas, around Wichita? Try using the clues from the show to determine where it would be or just make your best guess.
It's near an interstate highway, remember that Lionel was staying in a cheap hotel on the interstate when he got out of prison. Since it is central Kansas it's north of Wichita, so that narrows it down to I-70 or I-135. I-35 is too far south and east.

It's three hours to Metropolis, but they've mentioned Wichita and Kansas City on the show. No big towns left. Closest would be Oklahoma City, but that's in another state.

We know it's not too near Manhattan, Kansas since that is the home of K-State which they have also mentioned on the show, and Smallville is near the fictional Central Kansas U.

So you can't really narrow down the fictional location of Smallville very well. Salina might be your best bet, it's around 45,000 people and centrally located.


Originally posted by Lexgirl33
It would probably really close to Illinois, since its only a 3 hr drive to metropolis..so my guess is on the east side of the state. I don't think so. :rolleyes:

It's almost 750 miles from Wichita to Chicago. Make that 550 from Kansas City to Chicago. A few more than 3 hours away. :lol:

[superman79]

Originally posted by Rosey
It's almost 750 miles from Wichita to Chicago. Make that 550 from Kansas City to Chicago. A few more than 3 hours away. :lol:

Not true, It's an approximately a three or four hr drive from my house in IL to Kansas City. Rose was reffering to the state borders.

[Rosey]

Originally posted by superman79
Not true, It's an approximately a three or four hr drive from my house in IL to Kansas City. Rose was reffering to the state borders. It's about 250 miles from St. Louis (on the Illinois border) to Kansas City, and Kansas City can't be Smallville's Metropolis since Kansas City has been identified by name on the show, and Smallville is centrally located, so neither are in eastern Kansas. You can't really correlate Metropolis with any current city, but it is much easier to imagine a location for Smallville since it is so much smaller.

[WillTheBrave]

Well i was thinking about geographically(sp?) where it would be. Kansas is pretty much all flat with the exceptional group of hills, and maybe Bull Canyon, knowing this because I have lived there. So the terrain of SV doesn't really fit anywhere. I think you all were on the right track with the interstate stuff and distance from cities.

[KU Superdude]

I live in Lawrence, KS and am origninally from Wichita, KS. I know the layout of Kansas obviously, and judging off the references of location I would say Smallville, KS would be located around Manhattan, KS.

Think about it. Manhattan is about 30-45 minutes west of I-35 right off I-70. Also, it's still close enough for a KU frat prank (like in the episode with the symbol burned into the barn). Lastly, here in Kansas...believe it or not...it's not all farmland like portrayed in Smallville. There's a lot of cattle grazing land, too. If you want immense amounts of farmland like that, you are DEFINITELY not south by Wichita. You would either be way out in western KS, which is too far from KU, Topeka, and Wichita....or you would be up in north central KS, right by Manhattan.

It's the only place that makes sense, look it up on a map.

[Rosey]

Originally posted by KU Superdude
I live in Lawrence, KS and am origninally from Wichita, KS. I know the layout of Kansas obviously, and judging off the references of location I would say Smallville, KS would be located around Manhattan, KS.

Think about it. Manhattan is about 30-45 minutes west of I-35 right off I-70. Also, it's still close enough for a KU frat prank (like in the episode with the symbol burned into the barn). Lastly, here in Kansas...believe it or not...it's not all farmland like portrayed in Smallville. There's a lot of cattle grazing land, too. If you want immense amounts of farmland like that, you are DEFINITELY not south by Wichita. You would either be way out in western KS, which is too far from KU, Topeka, and Wichita....or you would be up in north central KS, right by Manhattan.

It's the only place that makes sense, look it up on a map. But can't be too close to Manhattan, remember Smallville is closer to (the fictional) Central Kansas than K-State.

Where in Wichita did you live? I was across from a grade school a few streets south of Kellogg and just west of Rock Rd. when I lived there.

[superman79]

Metropolis, in Illinios is the Official home of Superman. Obviously not a big city but his home nonetheless.

[Rosey]

Originally posted by superman79
Metropolis, in Illinios is the Official home of Superman. Obviously not a big city but his home nonetheless. Oh, now I see what you're getting at.

Well if the Illinois legislature has declared it to be so, then Metropolis, Illinois must be the home of Superman.

By the same logic Hell, Michigan must be the home of the devil, though I don't think the Michigan legislature has gotten involved in that one. :rotfl: :lol:

[superman79]

Very Funny! You never know. They have that big statue of Supes in town and a painting of him on the water tower which you can see from interstate 24. Chester IL is also the home of Popeye, did you know that? Do you think Hell has a statue of satan or something? Maybe they try to keep it on the low.

[Rosey]

Yeah, they do have a hard time keeping their "Welcome to Hell" signs.

[superman79]

Humanity, we are but sheeps for the slaughter. I can't imagine so many people wanting to go to Hell, HA ha.

[inperfectmemory]

I don't know where it would be.... the Illinois comment sounds right.

[smallvillerox05]

Don't want to take the time to read every post, but Central Kansas University is closer to Smallville than Met U, hence why Clark decided to go there. So that would mean that Smallville is definately towards the middle of the state.

Oh, and Metropolis IL is pretty close to the Kentucky border, totally on the opposite side of Chicago. I should know, I live near it and went to the Superman Convention (and met John Schneider :D) there.

[superman79]

Originally posted by smallvillerox05
Don't want to take the time to read every post, but Central Kansas University is closer to Smallville than Met U, hence why Clark decided to go there. So that would mean that Smallville is definately towards the middle of the state.

Oh, and Metropolis IL is pretty close to the Kentucky border, totally on the opposite side of Chicago. I should know, I live near it and went to the Superman Convention (and met John Schneider :D) there.

Really, I'm from Belleville.not so far away

[smallvillerox05]

Really, I'm from Belleville.not so far away
Cool, I know where that is. At the moment, I'm living in Granite City, which is not far. Well, I used to live more to the southeast, much closer to Metropolis than I am now.

[superman79]

Granite city is like a hop skip and a jump away. What are the chances?

[Rosey]

Just watched my TIVO recording of Splinter (originally watched the episode at the gym) and paused on the Kansas map being displayed on Lana's computer, where Smallville is marked. I just had to get out my maps and see if what they were showing us was a real depiction of Kansas. Well it was, to my surprise, a real map.

We now know, according to Lana's computer, exactly where Smallville is located.

It is at exit 162 of Interstate highway 35, just 7 miles East of US 75 in the Kansas Flint Hills, 100 miles from or half-way between Wichita and Kansas City (South of Topeka). This area is beautiful but desolate rolling hills and grasslands populated by a few cattle.

In reality there is no town of any size anywhere near this location. The closest would be Emporia, 31 miles West at the junction of I-35 and the Kansas Turnpike.

How about that?

[UpandAtom]

In "Lineage" it was mentioned that Smallville's zip code was 67524. That would place its location at Latitude 38.4, Longitude -98.4. In reality, the town that resides here is Chase, KS.

[Rosey]

That's over a 100 miles due West of the Splinter location.

Nothing like continuity, eh?

[UpandAtom]

I think maybe that "Lineage" location would fit with the whole "3 hours away from Metropolis" bit the producers keep giving us.

[Rosey]

I think that the show is intentionally vague or even misleading.

They gave a zip code for Metropolis once but it didn't exist.

Where would Metropolis really be? It can't be an existing city of any size like Wichita or Kansas City as those have been mentioned by name.

[KU Superdude]

Is Smallville the first continuity to actually say Metropolis was in Kansas? I thought in the movies and comics they merely called it Metropolis (which basically means "big city"), implying it really could be anywhere in the United States.

[Rosey]

It appears that the Smallville writers have intentionally given us two different and distinct locations for the town (see the last few preceeding posts) so it is not surprising that we can't pin them down on a Metropolis location. They've shown us cars with Metropolis tags, but I'm 99% sure (will have to check and make sure) that they've also specifically stated that Smallville's Metropolis is actually in Kansas, and like I said in the previous post there aren't any big cities left that they haven't already mentioned by name.

[KU Superdude]

Well we know that in the Smallville show that Metropolis is in Kansas. But I was wondering if the comics had Metropolis in Kansas or if it was ever even specified.

[UpandAtom]

In the comics and other adaptations of the Superman mythology, Metropolis was supposed to be somewhere on the eastern seaboard. It was probably supposed to take the place of New York or Boston.

[ctjj.stevenson]

Just for the hell of it, the State of Kansas should create a town called Smallville - to honour Superman's link to Kansas.

Chris

[UpandAtom]

I'd rather they build a big city called Metropolis.

[Lana_Lang #1]

I think those are both great ideas!

[Rosey]

Originally posted by Rosey
It appears that the Smallville writers have intentionally given us two different and distinct locations for the town (see the last few preceeding posts) so it is not surprising that we can't pin them down on a Metropolis location. They've shown us cars with Metropolis tags, but I'm 99% sure (will have to check and make sure) that they've also specifically stated that Smallville's Metropolis is actually in Kansas, and like I said in the previous post there aren't any big cities left that they haven't already mentioned by name. I noticed in the Reckoning trailer they have Lana driving on US40, placing her up near Lawrence, quite a different location from those given in Splinter (on Lana's PC map shown as exit 162 of Interstate highway 35, just 7 miles East of US 75 in the Kansas Flint Hills, 100 miles from or half-way between Wichita and Kansas City) or Lineage (Smallville's zip code was given as 67524, or Chase, KS).

[greengoose]

Help me out here since I haven't got a chance to see Season 5 yes (stationed in Germany). If Lex and Jonathan are running against each other for Senator, they have to be from the same state correct?

Obviously Lex would be running his campaign out of Metropolis and holding fundraisers there. So we can deduce that Metropolis is in the same state as Smallville.

Btw, are they running for the State Senate, or U.S. Senate?

[Rosey]

Originally posted by greengoose
Help me out here since I haven't got a chance to see Season 5 yes (stationed in Germany). If Lex and Jonathan are running against each other for Senator, they have to be from the same state correct?

Obviously Lex would be running his campaign out of Metropolis and holding fundraisers there. So we can deduce that Metropolis is in the same state as Smallville.

Btw, are they running for the State Senate, or U.S. Senate? Lex still lives in the mansion in Smallville so running for the same seat isn't a problem. However, many of the characters do seem to spend a lot of time in Metropolis, especially considering that it is supposed to be a three-hour drive.

In our Smallville continuity Metropolis seems to be in Kansas even though they have their own license plates.

Don't try and correlate Smallville or Metropolis to any existing cities because you can't. The show has given us three distinct and different locations for Smallville from three episodes:
Splinter - On Lana's PC map shown as exit 162 of Interstate highway 35, just 7 miles East of US 75 in the Kansas Flint Hills, 100 miles from or half-way between Wichita and Kansas City in the middle of nowhere,
Lineage - Smallville's zip code was given as 67524, or Chase, KS,
Reckoning - Somewhere near US40 and Lawrence, KS.

Metropolis is a large city, but they've already mentioned all of the surrounding large cities by name (Wichita, Kansas City) that are within the range of a three-hour drive so there aren't any left to be Metropolis. So we just have to go with it.

Seems like they're running for a State Senate seat but to me there is still a little ambiguity there. Lex did call it a stepping stone which lends credence to the State Senate theory.

Hope that you're enjoying Germany.

[TomWellingLover122]

They shoot Smallville in Vancover, Canada, DUH!:o

[Rosey]

Originally posted by TomWellingLover122
They shoot Smallville in Vancover, Canada, DUH!:o Can't say I understand your post.
Everybody here is fully aware of where Smallville is filmed.
The discussion has been about whether or not you can correlate anything from the show to real Kansas locations.
Please think a little for yourself before throwing insults at others.

[Coyote]

There has to be some reason for a big city like Metropolis to grow in a particular location. I don't think this is likely in central or western Kansas. Probably it would be on the Missouri river like Kansas City and Omaha. Maybe it's on the location of present day Kansas City, Kansas and the Kansas City they talk about on the show is Kansas City, Missouri, on the other side of the river. On the Kansas side the city may have been renamed Metropolis, and grew much larger for some alternate history reason. Kansas City, Missouri would be a suburb or sister city of Metropolis, like Minneapolis and St Paul, or Dallas and Fort Worth.

[i love u tom]

Originally posted by superman79
Rose, you never cease to amaze me! I live 2 hrs from Metropolis, isn't that cool. I'm so glad you are one of the people who like SV. I have had to defend the show to some and it's refreshing to find someone who is enjoying it. \

wait a minute... metropolis is a real city? i thought that was made up, too?!

[Rosey]

They renamed a small town in Illinois Metropolis.
Doesn't mean anything, except to those people in that state.

[i love u tom]

oo00oo thnx

[Clark Kent 86]

Since Smallville is a huge success I think that the Kansas government should rename one of their small towns SMALLVILLE, I think people would get a kick out of telling people that they live in Smallville.

And can you imagine, real places named Metropolis and Smallville. THAT WOULD KICK ASS!!!

[MarkAllan22]

Isn't there an actual Daily Planet in Metropolis? I could have sworn I saw that once.

[UpandAtom]

Originally posted by Rosey
Don't try and correlate Smallville or Metropolis to any existing cities because you can't. The show has given us three distinct and different locations for Smallville from three episodes:
Splinter - On Lana's PC map shown as exit 162 of Interstate highway 35, just 7 miles East of US 75 in the Kansas Flint Hills, 100 miles from or half-way between Wichita and Kansas City in the middle of nowhere,
Lineage - Smallville's zip code was given as 67524, or Chase, KS,
Reckoning - Somewhere near US40 and Lawrence, KS.


If we say that Metropolis is roughly 50 miles from Smallville which would be the closest location?

[ImaVirus]

I think Hays, Kansas is the best bet for Smallville. Im from there and it is about the same size and everything. It felt like Smallville anyway.

[greengoose]

There is also Fort Riley, which is next to Junction City. This could be the inspiration for Fort Ryan, where LG Lane was doing his maneuvers. Having Metropolis by the river would make some sense out of the scenes near the docks.

[Gripp]

i'de be more happy with rough geographical location than actual city...
being that I grew up in Wichita i know of what some of those towns are like... and they're not really all that good.

[Vor-el]

it would be cool if Smallville was a real place

[Clark Kent 86]

It would be cool

[aoa4life]

The fact that they film in Vancouver Canada makes it impossible to place it in Kansas...Kansas is flat and ugly and nothing like the Kent farm could exist in Kansas

[scifiguy]

I've been thinking about it and for them to go to Metropolis as quickly as they do, it seems as if it has to be Kansas city. I know that clark can run at super speed, but everyone else from smallville goes to metropolis to catch the plane or bus. If anyone is hurt and needs to go to the hospital they go to Metropolis. Now if Metropolis isn't kansas city then it would seem that they would say that they are going to K.C. to catch the plane to go to Metopolis. Chloe must be rich or own her own jet to go to work at the daily planet and then just stop by the kent farm to see how things are going.

[UpandAtom]

It's weird how Chloe and Lana can manage a six-hour drive from Smallville to Metropolis and yet Pete doesn't even have the time to call.

[scifiguy]

Maybe they have a Dr. named WHO, and he lets them use his phone.

[PowerofFlight]

Metropolis is a port city. The nearest port to Kansas is the basin of the great lakes, or Chicago to be exact.

That would be 9-10 hour drive from Topeka in the east of Kansas.

Even if it was only 3 hours away (call it 180 miles for the heck of it) There is no way that Lana and Chlark could see it from a windmill.

[scifiguy]

Here's another thought, the clark of "Smallville" may be from Earth 2, which would alow continuity to be shifted. We all know that this is all imagination, so What if this is pre-crisis superman and there are multiple earths like in the comics. Nothing would have to be in the same location as it is in reality. Think of the possibilitys.

[krpto]

Smallville could be anywhere in kansas.

[Rosey]

Originally posted by Rosey
Don't try and correlate Smallville or Metropolis to any existing cities because you can't. The show has given us three distinct and different locations for Smallville from three episodes:
Splinter - On Lana's PC map shown as exit 162 of Interstate highway 35, just 7 miles East of US 75 in the Kansas Flint Hills, 100 miles from or half-way between Wichita and Kansas City in the middle of nowhere,
Lineage - Smallville's zip code was given as 67524, or Chase, KS,
Reckoning - Somewhere near US40 and Lawrence, KS.
In a recent show (sorry, can't remember which one) I noticed yet another different location reference for Smallville. There was a zip code of 66684 written on something, probably a piece of mail. This zip code doesn't actually exist according to the Post Office, but the next lower zip code of 66683 is in Topeka, KS.

So there is at least a forth different location given for Smallville in the show, and of course there are more if you count other episodes that show road signs (e.g. in Lucy the truck is shown to be driving on US 54, which runs East-West through Wichita, much farther South than the aforementioned references).

[tjpw fanatic]

OMG weirdest thing. on my ipod there is like an example of how you can put adresses and stuff in there..and the examples say Smallville and Metropolis..i was soo excited when i saw that. but there really is a Smallville, Kansas i had my dad ask someone who used to live in Kansas!

[KU Superdude]

Originally posted by aoa4life
The fact that they film in Vancouver Canada makes it impossible to place it in Kansas...Kansas is flat and ugly and nothing like the Kent farm could exist in Kansas

I haven't posted on here in about 6 months, but I have to break my silence here. Kansas is NOT ugly (although it is pretty flat). Don't base your opinion on Kansas on some stupid Hollywood movie where they make it look like cow crap and dirt. Parts of Kansas are breath-taking as you drive by, especially the Flint Hills. Yes, there are actually parts in Kansas that look like the scenes filmed in Smallville.

However, the episode 'Aquaman' is not true because they forgot to NOT film the mountains in the background during the lake scene. Other than that, this show can easily be filmed in Kansas.

If you want proof that Kansas isn't ugly, I'll be happy to provide you with pictures.