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Honestly, it seems like Fredericksburg is the gateway to the south. That seems to be the "welcome mat" for where the environment starts to feels southern, to me at least. I know others have different opinions.
Another thing about the Delmarva is that when you cross into Virginia from Maryland, there's big Confederate flag sign that says, " The South Starts Here."
I think that some places directly south of Baltimore in Anne Arundel and Calvert counties are southern and they've been overlooked on this thread. On the eastern shore, south of that sign you mentioned, things do change very, very rapidly. For one, the latitude is 37°N instead of 38°, and the culture is drastically different over there because the people know this.
The cultural south kind of dips to the southwest as you travel to the west. Less of an east-west line and more of a messy diagonal one. Though to be honest, I could accept St. Louis as a gateway city. That part of Missouri is directly west of Kentucky and Virginia and southern WV.
I'd also argue that a good portion of the south/central core of WV is pretty southern even though it sits north of Huntington. The mountains have a lot to do with that I suspect, having affected migration.
Cincinnati and northern-most KY are not really southern but not entirely northern either. So I could also accept Cincy as a border city in so much as it follows the river as the divider. I'd still agree that the I-64 corridor is a better mark of where things really stop shifting and become solidly southern (in that area).
DC? "Balmer"? Nah. They are only southern if you're from Quebec. Or Greenland. Or Mars.
Baltimore isn't southern, but it is about 30 miles from the South and Pennsylvania.
The Ohio River and the Mason-Dixon line are widely accepted as the transition between North and South.
West of the Mississippi it gets more messy.
Hmm... many people think the Mason-Dixon is antiquated, but the Ohio is not. So Richmond is kind of northern (though it doesn't border the north), while most places in northern Kentucky are as southern as they were in 1860. Where could the line be drawn in Kentucky? Is it just about avoiding Cincinnati and Louisville?
East Coast:
*Interstate 95 south - Richmond, VA
*Interstate 81 south - Roanoke, VA
Appalachia:
* Interstate 79 & 77 south - Charleston, WV
Midwest:
*Interstate 75 south - Cincinnati, OH
*Interstate 24 southeast - Marion/Carbondale, IL
*Interstate 65 south - Louisville, KY
*Interstate 55 south - Cape Girardeau, MO
*Interstate 44 south - Springfield, MO
*Interstate 57 south - Marion/Carbondale, IL
*Interstate 35 south - Witchita, Kansas
The Ohio River and the Mason-Dixon line are widely accepted as the transition between North and South.
West of the Mississippi it gets more messy.
I would say west of the Mississippi it's pretty simple. ALL of Oklahoma is the South, with the possible exception of the two westernmost panhandle counties, but they are so sparsely populated they aren't really significant. Missouri below I-44, with the exception of counties that are in the St Louis metro is also the South. Most of Texas is also the South, with the exception of the Trans-Pecos region.
Hmm... many people think the Mason-Dixon is antiquated, but the Ohio is not. So Richmond is kind of northern (though it doesn't border the north), while most places in northern Kentucky are as southern as they were in 1860. Where could the line be drawn in Kentucky? Is it just about avoiding Cincinnati and Louisville?
I would say that Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati suburbs are a transition zone but lean more Midwestern. But Louisville is unquestionably Southern...a true Gateway city to the South. Louisville is 100 miles further South than Northern Kentucky and within those 100 miles a transition occurs. Southern Indiana is Southern as well. The Ohio River is a pretty good divider between the North and the South. North of I-64 is Southern with Midwestern influences and South of I-64 is very Southern, in my opinion. Once you get south of I-64, you dont see nearly as many Midwestern influences.
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