Why is Missouri so southern? (Kansas City, St. Louis: houses, movies, university)

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by Northwoods Voyager

Missouri: Midwestern state with southern influences!!! Love it!!!

No arguments here The one thing I have never argued or contested is how great a state Missouri is! I'm proud to be raised in this state, and not even the most hostile person toward Missouri could break my spirit!

[btoverdrive]

Originally Posted by Versatile

I heard once that it is because; at one time a very large pipeline was coming from Arkansas into Kansas City and after the line was done and buried the Arky's couldn't find their way home! lol

Hardy-har-har. Very funny but no kidding, I lived in St. Louis for 16 years and it never felt southern, but I made the best friends I ever had, and still have, while living there.

[kshe95girl]

Have to pipe up here....... having spent 2 weeks at home just recently, I have to say that Mo has some identity issues.
I spent a week in STL, and it felt like home, and thoroughly midwestern, just as it always has throughout my life.
Then I went to the SEMO area, fell ill, spent several days in hospital, the care I recieved, but very Southern, down to being offered grits on my breakfast plate, and offered sweet tea as a choice on the beverage menu.
BTW, I have always known this about Mo, and its just one of the reasons I love it, where else can one find the Midwest and the South in one state?

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by kshe95girl

Have to pipe up here....... having spent 2 weeks at home just recently, I have to say that Mo has some identity issues.
I spent a week in STL, and it felt like home, and thoroughly midwestern, just as it always has throughout my life.
Then I went to the SEMO area, fell ill, spent several days in hospital, the care I recieved, but very Southern, down to being offered grits on my breakfast plate, and offered sweet tea as a choice on the beverage menu.
BTW, I have always known this about Mo, and its just one of the reasons I love it, where else can one find the Midwest and the South in one state?

I agree with your point, but Missouri is only Southern like that in the Southeastern part of the state...Southern Illinois, especially in Carbondale, sells sweet tea, as does Southern Indiana, and grits are offered in these places too. I would describe extreme Southern Missouri, extreme Southern Illinois, and extreme Southern Indiana, as places where the South begins. The reason Illinois and Indiana don't have the identity issues Missouri has is (a) They are not quite as far south (b) They are more in the Interior Plains than Missouri (c) They didn't have as much Confederate sympathies as Missouri. Other than that, what I will say about Missouri is that it is overall Midwestern, but most of the Southern half of Missouri is a melting pot for both the Midwest and the South...and south central Missouri around Poplar Bluff, Sikeston, and the bootheel is solidly Southern. The Northern half of Missouri, including Jefferson City, Columbia, Kansas City, and St. Louis, is solidly Midwestern.

[kshe95girl]

Ajf, knew you were going to speak into this, and what I said was pretty much voiced with you in mind, glad we are on the same page!

[MimzyMusic]

Originally Posted by ajf131

I agree with your point, but Missouri is only Southern like that in the Southeastern part of the state...Southern Illinois, especially in Carbondale, sells sweet tea, as does Southern Indiana, and grits are offered in these places too. I would describe extreme Southern Missouri, extreme Southern Illinois, and extreme Southern Indiana, as places where the South begins. The reason Illinois and Indiana don't have the identity issues Missouri has is (a) They are not quite as far south (b) They are more in the Interior Plains than Missouri (c) They didn't have as much Confederate sympathies as Missouri. Other than that, what I will say about Missouri is that it is overall Midwestern, but most of the Southern half of Missouri is a melting pot for both the Midwest and the South...and south central Missouri around Poplar Bluff, Sikeston, and the bootheel is solidly Southern. The Northern half of Missouri, including Jefferson City, Columbia, Kansas City, and St. Louis, is solidly Midwestern.

Nobody would call the Bootheel the Midwest.

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by MimzyMusic

Nobody would call the Bootheel the Midwest.

I agree, and it's not the Midwest. Originally it was not even a part of the Missouri Territory...it was supposed to be part of Arkansas. It is further south than Kentucky. Not to mention people in the bootheel speak with a Mississippi Delta accent. The bootheel is far more like Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee than Missouri.

[city414]

geographically its the midwest

[OA 5599]

Originally Posted by city414

geographically its the midwest

Yes and no, its part of Missouri which is considered part of the Midwest by the census bureau. However, as far as the landscape and geology goes, it is the northernmost tip of the Mississippi Delta, the vast majority of which occurs in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and small portions of Tennessee and Kentucky. It is flat with fertile soil, and was covered by large swamps before it was settled. Totally different than the Ozarks or the till plains north of the Missouri River. Also, the highest rainfall in the state occurs in the bootheel, at almost 50" per year. Culturally, it is just like the rest of the delta in the south. I consider the bootheel the south, from what I've seen of it, its nothing like the rest of the state.

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by city414

geographically its the midwest

oh puleeze! Have you ever spent any time there????? Geography, schmeography.
My mamas people are from there since the late 1800's, I visited there, and even lived there, so I feel I can speak with some authority here.
The Bootheel area is as much like the Midwest as an aardvark is like an elephant, 'nuff said!