Why is Missouri so southern? (St. Louis, Ozark: hospitable, counties, accent)

[rickflair58]

Originally Posted by MimzyMusic

Is it because it was a slave state?

Missouri wasn't a slave state it remain neutral.

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by rickflair58

Missouri wasn't a slave state it remain neutral.

except for the Kingdom of Callaway.
In my own family, we had men that fought on both sides. A lot of folks I know to from Mo had the same thing happen, too.

[Nu2pomona]

Originally Posted by city414

geographically its the midwest

I was born in Wisconsin and lived there 65 years before moving to the Ozarks. Wisconsin is considered the midwest.

The first winter we lived in Missouri, Wisconsin had 84 inches of snow fall. We had 1/4 of an inch. Wisconsin had 19 sub-zero days. We had none. Spring arrived in Wisconsin in late April. I had tomatoes on my plants by then.

I guess if you're from Wisconsin, the Ozarks of Missouri is the rural south (Springfield, excepted). No doubt about it.

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by Nu2pomona

I was born in Wisconsin and lived there 65 years before moving to the Ozarks. Wisconsin is considered the midwest.

The first winter we lived in Missouri, Wisconsin had 84 inches of snow fall. We had 1/4 of an inch. Wisconsin had 19 sub-zero days. We had none. Spring arrived in Wisconsin in late April. I had tomatoes on my plants by then.

I guess if you're from Wisconsin, the Ozarks of Missouri is the rural south (Springfield, excepted). No doubt about it.

FYI, the Midwest is not one uniform region. It can be further divided into two subregions, the Upper Midwest and the Lower Midwest. Northern Wisconsin, Northern Minnesota, and Northern Michigan in my opinion are not exactly stereotypical Midwestern...those areas feel like they should be part of Canada, not the Midwest, just as the southernmost parts of the Midwest, like where you are living in Pomona, feel more southern than they do Midwestern. St. Louis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, and Chicago all feel pretty similar to one another. Southern Illinois, Southern Indiana, and Southern Missouri are all culturally and speech-pattern wise pretty similar to each other. The part of Missouri you are living is practically on the border of Arkansas, and more similar to Arkansas than to the rest of Missouri. And Southwest Wisconsin in terms of terrain is not that different from Southern Missouri. Wisconsin is the Upper Midwest, Missouri is the Lower Midwest.

[Smtchll]

I took the 4 hour day trip from Memphis to St. Louis. Honestly, it felt like the South (minus the accent) all the way up to Jefferson County. I'm basing this mainly on the heavy redneck presence and the geography that reminded me of Nashville. The change in scenery from Memphis to Stl was much like the change in scenery from Memphis to Nashville. So by geography, I really didn't feel like I had left the South.

By Cape Girardeau, there was only a slight Southern accent left. The people in St. Louis definetly had a Midwestern accent, but there were enough people with a General American accent to make it seem not so drastically different. The black people in St. Louis sounded more similar to the black people in Memphis, but I could still hear a slight difference.

It started feeling really different once we entered St. Louis. We were on the South side of the city and Shrewsbury. The houses and everything looked really different. It looked much more Northern than Southern. We explored many different areas, from Chesterfield to Downtown and areas in-between near the Galleria, Washington University, and the Basilica. Overall, it felt like an All-American city. The neighborhoods reminded me of the typical American neighborhoods that you see in the movies. The people just seemed American, not associated with any particular region. It was similar enough to Memphis to make me feel at home. The people were just as friendly and there were just as many country stations on the radio. But it was different enough to make it an interesting cultural experience. I wanna come back soon and often.

[ozarksboy]

Originally Posted by MimzyMusic

Why is Missouri so southern? Is it because it was a slave state?

It is Southern because many of us came from the South. I'm a Georgia native; I moved my family here in 1953. I sold my slaves before I moved.

My wife is a native Texan. She moved here for a job in 2002. I believe she freed her slaves before she moved.

[Hillman]

Originally Posted by rickflair58

Missouri wasn't a slave state it remain neutral.

Well the Yankees might have said this but there was plenty of Slaves here and plenty that fought for the Confederarcy such as my ancestors.

hillman

[Tiger Beer]

Wherever SOUTHERN BAPTIST is the main faith, that pretty much defines the south to me. The mass majority of Missouri is predominately Southern Baptist except for the city of St. Louis and its immediate surroundings.

[Smtchll]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Wherever SOUTHERN BAPTIST is the main faith, that pretty much defines the south to me. The mass majority of Missouri is predominately Southern Baptist except for the city of St. Louis and its immediate surroundings.

Actually there are slightly more Catholics in MO than Southern Baptists. This is information from 2000.
The Association of Religion Data Archives | Maps & Reports

Catholics- 856,964- 15%
Southern Baptists- 797,732- 14%

But neither faith is the vast majority.

Baptists are the largest faith in far more counties though:



Whenever I stopped seeing Jesus billboards and started seeing anti-abortion billboards, I knew I was entering a more Catholic area. I mean, the South is also anti-abortion, but I've never seen anti-abortion billboards. I think I counted 7 in the counties south of St. Louis.

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by Smtchll

I took the 4 hour day trip from Memphis to St. Louis. Honestly, it felt like the South (minus the accent) all the way up to Jefferson County. I'm basing this mainly on the heavy redneck presence and the geography that reminded me of Nashville. The change in scenery from Memphis to Stl was much like the change in scenery from Memphis to Nashville. So by geography, I really didn't feel like I had left the South.

By Cape Girardeau, there was only a slight Southern accent left.

Cape is really the invisible dividing line between the the South and the Midwest in SE Missouri. The 2 counties north of there, Perry and Sainte Genevieve, are thoroughly Midwestern, trust me on that. It may look similar to Nashville, but having grown up in Sainte Genevieve, and having lived in the Nashville area, I can tell you that the mindset is MUCH different.