
Many people living in Quonochontaug commonly refer to their home as Quahog.

Many of the features of Quahog exist in Quonochontaug, such as a coast. Select regional DVD releases state on the rear cover "Meet the Griffins and find out what in the name of Quonochontaug, Rhode Island is going on in their heads!", giving "Quonochontaug" as the name for the fictional Quahog. The word "quahog" has been absorbed into the American English language as a loanword from the original Narragansett, Quonochontaug. MacFarlane, in an interview with local WNAC Fox 64 News, has stated that the town is modeled after Cranston, Rhode Island.Ī quahog is an edible clam, probably giving name to many establishments in the city. Peterbus Unum", a map of Rhode Island is shown with Quahog shown in red with Quahog appearing to be in the vicinity of Tiverton, Rhode Island. In " Not All Dogs Go To Heaven", the 'zoomout' at the end shows Quahog to be somewhere between Cranston and Warwick, almost directly north of the Theodore Francis Green Airport. Also, a map seen in "Fifteen Minutes of Shame" does not resemble a map of the neighborhood of the actual Spooner Street. MacFarlane has said in a DVD commentary that the street was named after Spooner Hill Road, along which is his boyhood home. This is supported by the fact that the real-world "31 Spooner Street" is located in Providence, immediately west of Roger Williams Park. However, in a few episodes Quahog is shown to have a coastline such as " Fifteen Minutes of Shame", " Fore Father", and " The Perfect Castaway", which only Cranston and Providence possess. If Quahog is to have a counterpart in Rhode Island geography and be consistent with this, it would have to be either Johnston, Rhode Island Cranston, Rhode Island North Providence, Rhode Island Scituate, Rhode Island or a western portion of Providence itself. This ordering of buildings and the angle at which they are viewed (see figure at right) indicates that Quahog is primarily west of downtown Providence. The three buildings that are depicted are, from left to right and furthest to closest, One Financial Plaza, 50 Kennedy Plaza, and the Bank of America Tower.

Several times every episode, the actual Providence skyline can be seen in the distance. Seth MacFarlane, the show's creator, had been a resident of Rhode Island, and leaves unequivocal Rhode Island landmarks from which one may infer intended locations for events. However, Peter, feeling betrayed by Brian and left out, retaliates against Brian by bringing James Woods on the night of the school meeting to protect the name.

In " Peter's Got Woods", Brian and his new girlfriend Shauna Parks, decide to propose a changing of James Woods Regional High School to honor Dr. Petoria was originally to be called Peterland, but a local gay bar had already taken it. Peterbus Unum" it is found out that Peter's house is not part of Quahog, and not even part of the United States of America, in which he calls the new territory Petoria. Peter works as an assembly worker in a toy factory in early episodes, but is a self-employed fisherman and an employee of the fictitious Pawtucket Brewery in later episodes. The Drunken Clam is a bar that Peter and his friends frequently visit along with his friends Joe Swanson, who is a paraplegic police officer, Cleveland Brown who is a deli owner and Glenn Quagmire who is an airline pilot and general Ladies man. Their Japanese newswoman is called Tricia Takanawa. Quahog's local celebrities are the anchors of its Channel 5 news show, Tom Tucker and Diane Simmons. Mayor Adam West was the mayor of Quahog until the passing of his namesake voice actor. A myth was later created that said that Quahog was founded by Miles "Chatterbox" Musket with the assistance of a magical talking clam. The king later gave Peterson control over Quahog after Peterson beat him in a talent show.

Quahog was founded by Griffin Peterson, who had been exiled to America by King Stewart III in " Peter's Progress".
