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I think what Kentuckians feel may a bit like what South Louisianians feel...we're Southern but our culture is different from Georgia, Bama, Mississippi, and even North Louisiana...so we're in the box and outside the box at the same time.
Kentucky is every bit of southern as the "deep south".
Living in Georgia, I have always felt that Kentucky seems very southern. Exceptions include out near Paducah, Kentucky, as well as locations near the Ohio River, such as Ashland or around Cincinnati. However, Lexington, Bowling Green, Corbin, Elizabethtown and parts of the Louisville area: Southern.
Kentucky is southern.
By the way, for Georgia Frog, he lives in Rome, Georgia, which topographically and culturally is not the deep south, but is more like the Tennessee Valley than anything. It's practically the same as southeast Tennessee. Northwest Georgia, including the counties of Dade, Catoosa, Walker, Murray, Whitfield, Gordon, Chatooga, Floyd, Polk, and parts of Bartow are very different from the rest of the state. That part of the state seems much more similar to Tennessee and northern Alabama, while the rest of the state is more like the Carolinas, Florida, or central Alabama.
I'm not sure why you mentioned Paducah not being southern. It is in the Jackson Purchase, which is the most culturally southern part of the state. It is the only part of Kentucky that had a cotton growing plantation culture that mirrored the deep south. It is also one of the few Kentucky towns that has a significant African American population (25% of a town of about 25,000). Don't let the Ohio River fool you, Paducah is very southern. The same goes for the tiny town of Wickliffe. Even though it is on the Ohio, you can immediately tell you have entered the south when you cross over from Illinois. Fulton, Murray, and Mayfield are very southern as well. There is an area in the Purchase that feels like the midwest, but it doesn't include any sizable towns so I'm not sure how to describe where it really is. It is between Mayfield and Wickliffe.
Last edited by GunnerTHB; 05-02-2013 at 06:55 AM..
I think what Kentuckians feel may a bit like what South Louisianians feel...we're Southern but our culture is different from Georgia, Bama, Mississippi, and even North Louisiana...so we're in the box and outside the box at the same time.
I think all people from the cultural Appalachia have a bit of similarity to the people in southern Louisiana in that the culture is very distinct from other southern cultures. I grew up in southwest Virginia which borders east KY and east TN in a region literally defined as the cultural "heart of Appalachia" and the culture that extends in that area is very southern yet very distinct from what you see in South Georgia or other parts of the Deep South. In my part of the south people are VERY into bluegrass music, tobacco, moonshine, and retaining Appalachian history. Deep South culture is obviously quite a bit different but they both are very southern, IMO.
Regardless of our distinctions I think there's a few things all southerners can all agree on....we've got the best food....the sexiest accents...the best football.....and SWEET TEA, by god!
I think what Kentuckians feel may a bit like what South Louisianians feel...we're Southern but our culture is different from Georgia, Bama, Mississippi, and even North Louisiana...so we're in the box and outside the box at the same time.
Georgia (and the others) have more than simply one culture...there is the coastal region, the Piedmont, the South Georgia agricultural region, and the North Georgia mountains - all very different. So you don't have to feel too outside of the box. Southern culture is already very diverse...Kentucky (and it's subregions) is just another aspect of it.
In illinois some consider south of Joliet as southern likewise south of Ft Wayne in Indiana. But seriously, i think south of Springfield is what feels like south. That might settle the discussion for Kentucky ;-).
In illinois some consider south of Joliet as southern likewise south of Ft Wayne in Indiana. But seriously, i think south of Springfield is what feels like south. That might settle the discussion for Kentucky ;-).
More like south of Illinois Route 146, which is at roughly the same latitude as Richmond, VA.
The South is a transitional area imo, but I would normally put Kentucky as Southern. Deep South elitists don't want to list it as Southern, but most Kentuckians do self identify as Southern so the state as a whole definitely seems Southern to me (aside from the Cincinnati suburbs).
Location: Jefferson City 4 days a week, St. Louis 3 days a week
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Originally Posted by TRoweP
In illinois some consider south of Joliet as southern likewise south of Ft Wayne in Indiana. But seriously, i think south of Springfield is what feels like south. That might settle the discussion for Kentucky ;-).
South of Springfield is not Southern linguistically, demographically, culturally, economically, or politically. I might draw the line of Southern in Illinois south of I-64 if I really feel like being generous. Otherwise, I'd put it south of Carbondale. In terms of strict natural boundaries, the Ohio River is the boundary between south and Midwest. Kentucky lies entirely south of the Ohio River, therefore it's the south. And culturally, historically, linguistically, demographicaly, and politically, the state is also unquestionably southern.
I do feel Kentucky is in the south. I'm from the deep south. Crossing the river from Cinncinnati I knew I was back in the south although maybe not the deep south; nevertheless I immediatley noticed the friendly smiling people with southern accents. Ohio, while generally friendly is midwest friendly; more reserved type of friendliness.
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