Why is Missouri so southern? (Kansas City, St. Louis: headhunters, to live, restaurant)

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by northbound74

That might be true for people in southern Arkansas, but in northern Arkansas, where I'm originally from, people viewed Missourians (at least the ones in the southern part of MO) as equals, generally speaking... especially if you take state rivalries out of the equation.
Because of it's location, and the heritage of the people who moved here, Missouri is everything at once, I'm convinced. North, South, East, West....

Tell that to my dad. He was born and raised in Joplin, Missouri....and I know his friends from there, and he describes not having much in common with Northern Arkansas, but rather with southwest Kansas and Northeastern Oklahoma. Even in Joplin and Springfield, Missouri still seems far more Midwestern than Southern. Besides, Missouri is not the only state to touch a bunch of different ones from different regions. Ohio borders Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Indiana, yet people somehow don't have a problem calling the state Midwestern. Illinois and Indiana border Kentucky yet somehow there is again no problem calling them Midwestern. Iowa and Minnesota touch Great Plains states and Midwestern states yet somehow they too can be called Midwestern. Looking at the map, even if Missouri is geographically central, it is clearly geographically in the Midwest region of the United States with the extreme deep parts of it (less than a sixth of the state) extending south of where the Ohio River flows into the Mississippi. Missouri is much more like Illinois and Indiana and Ohio I would say than Kentucky. Kentucky is a Southern state with Midwestern influences, Missouri is a Midwestern state with Southern influences.

[Okie_Dokie!]

Well..
What ever do yall mean?
I have lived in Missoura all my life and I have not got an southen accent what so eva.

[Nomadicus]

While living in N MO I frequently did business in the Delta of AR. Now when I traveled down there to pick up a load the first thing I heard when entering a friend office: "The yankee's back". Then I reponded, "I ain't no yankee, I'm from a lot farther south than you would be allowed to go" or some smart remark similar. All in good fun of course. Being from the deep south I never saw any true southern symptoms anywhere in MO. I never spent time in the boot heel so can't speak of that area though.

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by Okie_Dokie!

Well..
What ever do yall mean?
I have lived in Missoura all my life and I have not got an southen accent what so eva.

You are either joking around, or if you could tell what part of the state you're from, then I might buy you having a Southern accent. If you are from far Southeast Missouri or the bootheel, then you should have a Southern accent most likely. You certainly don't sound like you are from anywhere near my parts.

[northbayeric]

I think Okie (who I would've guessed is from Oklahoma!) is just having a good time here with us!

You know, when I took my wife to Missouri on vacation back in 2004, we went to Jacob's Cave, which is near the town of Versailles in central Missouri. Our tour guide had a wonderful accent that made Daisy Duke sound like Teddy Kennedy by comparison! No joke.

[Northwoods Voyager]

So many very interesting posts here. One thing for sure, there will never be an 'answer' to the question regarding whether Missouri is southern or northern. Missouri is neither. It has become a conglomeration of all points, N,S,E, and W. We are not like Illinois, Indiana, nor Kansas. We have 'hills'. We have forests. We have caves. We have rivers. We have plateaus. We have eastern influences in some aspects of St. Louis. We have some western influences in Kansas City.

Our northern part, far above the Missouri River, can be compared to Iowa (north). Then we come to the southern part of our dear state. And, like it or not, we have southern influences. Of course those from California that have settled in the areas near and south of Hwy 60, have brought with them something entirely unique. Natives of this region can be compared to Arkansas, western Kentucky and Tennessee, which to my way of thinking is more southern than N,E, or W.

I am a native Missourian, from St. Louis and have spent the last 36 years in rural Missouri. People born and raised in this region are not Eastern nor Northern. A great mixture of the South and the West. If you have lived in Kansas City or St. Louis most or all of your life and have never spent years anywhere else, you may find all of this hard to believe.

Southern? Sure, why not? Personally I enjoy the thought of Missouri being somewhat Southern. It is refreshing. I am nothing like a New Yorker nor Bostonian.

I've said it before and I'll say it again; Missouri is a Midwestern state with southern influences. Have a good day y'all.

[northbayeric]

I know the C-D bylaws mention that we shouldn't, uh, mention rep points in our posts, but dang! If anyone wonders how NW Voyager received 8,000 + points, this last post of hers is it!

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Northwoods Voyager again." OK, but the C-D brass should make me a deal to let me give 927 rep points at a time to make it an even nine-thou for her! We have just discussed this whole Southern-Midwestern thing backwards and forwards, inside and out, right and left, up and down and sideways, and it's just like the Energizer Bunny of topics, huh? My undying thanks to NW Voyager for once again encapsulating the whole answer to this subject.

[ajf131]

Central Missouri a mixture of Southern and Western? That I disagree strongly with. Central Missouri is hardly the South, and how it is Western is beyond me. It feels far more Eastern and I would say more Northern than Southern. Not Northern like the Upper Midwest, but like the Southern Midwest for sure, which I still consider "the North." I agree with Missouri being a Midwestern state with Southern influences, but geographically speaking I don't agree. You can't define a region based solely on landscape. That is foolish. Dialect maps show most of Missouri not to have a Southern accent, most of it to have a climate more similar to the Midwest than the South, most of it to have predominately German ancestry, something not found in Southern states, etc. The entire Northern half of Missouri looks pretty much like what you would expect to see in the rural Midwest...it is in the Central Till Plains. St. Louis I would say is definitely both Northern and Eastern. The Eastern parts of Ohio don't look like a lot of the Midwest either, nor do Northern Wisconsin or Northern Minnesota or Northern Michigan. I'm tired of playing this ridiculous game. If people cannot accept that a place can be part of a region while having some influences from another region and being unique in its own right, and that minority factors don't play a part in defining regions, I guess I am just wasting my time on here. People
Southern Illinois, Southern Indiana, and Southern Missouri share a very similar culture...people in these areas are virtually indistinguishable to me at least. Most of Missouri's agriculture is more like the Midwest than the South. And finally, most of its cities are more like the Midwest (even its cities like Springfield and Joplin and Cape Girardeau are more like Carbondale, Illinois and Evansville, Indiana) than any place in the South. I have been all over the United States and thoroughly explored most of Missouri...I definitely can say that Missouri belongs in the Midwest, and that anyone who can't must be stuck in the pre-Civil War era. Southern Midwest=Midwest. I agree that Missouri has Bible Belt influences and that some of its food like barbeque give it a bit of a Southern flavor. The Ozarks are a region that is Southern and Midwestern all at one time...they extend almost as far north as St. Louis and cover some of Arkansas and Northeastern Oklahoma, which give them a Southern and Western flavor in addition to a Midwestern one. And finally you have far Southeast Missouri, Southern Missouri, and the bootheel, which are definitely Southern. But no state in the Lower Midwest is "solidly" Midwestern. Parts of Illinois and Indiana have Southern influences as well, and so does Ohio , and most of the Eastern half of Ohio has Northeastern and Appalachian influences from West Virginia and Pennsylvania. So Missouri is hardly the only state to have variability.

[northbound74]

Originally Posted by ajf131

Tell that to my dad. He was born and raised in Joplin, Missouri....and I know his friends from there, and he describes not having much in common with Northern Arkansas, but rather with southwest Kansas and Northeastern Oklahoma. Even in Joplin and Springfield, Missouri still seems far more Midwestern than Southern. Besides, Missouri is not the only state to touch a bunch of different ones from different regions. Ohio borders Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Indiana, yet people somehow don't have a problem calling the state Midwestern. Illinois and Indiana border Kentucky yet somehow there is again no problem calling them Midwestern. Iowa and Minnesota touch Great Plains states and Midwestern states yet somehow they too can be called Midwestern. Looking at the map, even if Missouri is geographically central, it is clearly geographically in the Midwest region of the United States with the extreme deep parts of it (less than a sixth of the state) extending south of where the Ohio River flows into the Mississippi. Missouri is much more like Illinois and Indiana and Ohio I would say than Kentucky. Kentucky is a Southern state with Midwestern influences, Missouri is a Midwestern state with Southern influences.

I certainly don't deny that Missouri is midwestern in every sense, just that it has lots of outside influences, from every direction.
The strongest influence seems to be from the south. This is just my observation. I was in the central part of the state this past weekend, around Marshall and Moberly, and heard southern twang everywhere we stopped. It wasn't the only dialect, no, but it was prevalent. The overall culture seemed midwestern, though.
I'm not familiar with Joplin. What I was thinking of was the areas from Springfield, eastward. I spend quite a bit of time in south-central Missouri, and it doesn't seem drastically different, if at all, from Arkansas.
I've lived in four different southern states, and Missouri isn't a big adjustment from those. It is different in many ways, I'll admit. Otherwise, I would have no desire to live here. I like Missouri much better.
St. Louis seems to be the most different of any place in MO from the south. It is definitely eastern, or northern... Kansas City has a very strong southern influence, though. There is plenty of northern influence here, but we have entire suburbs populated with ex-southerners. Not saying it's bad, one way or the other, but it's what I've picked up on during the few years I've been here.

I agree that Missouri isn't the only state like this, it's just the only one I've lived in that's so varied. That's why it fascinates me. The others were solidly in the south or southwest.

[Northwoods Voyager]

It's a lovely day in the neighborhood!!! And also in Missouri. a grand old Midwestern state with Strong Southern touches here and there. Lots of heres and many of theres. I love it. Ah, surely do. Anyone for some hush puppies and fried catfish? My grandpappy and mammy from old Kentuck taught me how to cook many things such as this. Add a lot of cornbread and baked beans (no, not the Boston type). Then sit around afterwards and listen to family members play banjo, piano and sing. This all took place in St. Louis, not Alabama nor Mississippi. Take care y'all. Have to go for now.