Why is Missouri so southern? (St. Louis, Springfield: manufacturing, transit, maps)
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"Ask somebody from Arkansas, which really is in the south, if they think southern Missourians are southerners and they'd laugh in your face. They'd call people from Springfield a bunch of damn yankees."
That is so not true. I have a friend that I met within the past year and he's from a little town on the Arkansas/Louisiana border. If that's not south then I don't know what is. He moved from there, north to here in Branson, MO on the AR/MO border, if you don't know where that is... considering NO ONE has brought up Branson, unbelievable. Anyway, he considers Branson southern, but not Springfield. I am from Springfield and I totally agree. The city population of Springfield is not anywhere near southern, but definitely are not 'Yankees'. The outer suburbs of Springfield is where all the 'country/southerners' live. Ex: Nixa & Ozark. I'd say south of James River Freeway in Springfield is what you consider 'the Southern part of SW MO'. Nothing near the city of Springfield and north toward I-44 is southern.
I also have a friend from Illinois, and he thinks my accent is "southern country"--not exactly "southern southern" but I have a "country" accent. He sounds like a damn Yankee to me and he went to Carbondale in southern Illi, by everyone's infamous 'SE Missouri and South Illinois are Southern' statements. As far as that goes, not being rude, but no one really considers SE MO apart of Missouri--it's 'the armpit of America' to most around here. So that's all I'm gonna say about that.
I could go on & on & on about this as I do a lot. Basically--30 mi. from MO/ARK border south (south Springfield all the way across MO-yes, including the armpit boothill) is southern and should be considered below the Mason-Dixon line. You cannot forget about Branson and surrounding little towns! STL AND KC ARE NOT SOUTH! NOTHING north of I-44 is south! I won't even go to a Cardinals game in STL because it's too far north and I hate it. I like KC but could never live there because it's too far north. Just my opinions from a Springfield native living in Branson, MO!
Last edited by tablerocksouth; 03-03-2012 at 05:41 AM..
"Ask somebody from Arkansas, which really is in the south, if they think southern Missourians are southerners and they'd laugh in your face. They'd call people from Springfield a bunch of damn yankees."
That is so not true. I have a friend that I met within the past year and he's from a little town on the Arkansas/Louisiana border. If that's not south then I don't know what is. He moved from there, north to here in Branson, MO on the AR/MO border, if you don't know where that is... considering NO ONE has brought up Branson, unbelievable. Anyway, he considers Branson southern, but not Springfield. I am from Springfield and I totally agree. The city population of Springfield is not anywhere near southern, but definitely are not 'Yankees'. The outer suburbs of Springfield is where all the 'country/southerners' live. Ex: Nixa & Ozark. I'd say south of James River Freeway in Springfield is what you consider 'the Southern part of SW MO'. Nothing near the city of Springfield and north toward I-44 is southern.
I also have a friend from Illinois, and he thinks my accent is "southern country"--not exactly "southern southern" but I have a "country" accent. He sounds like a damn Yankee to me and he went to Carbondale in southern Illi, by everyone's infamous 'SE Missouri and South Illinois are Southern' statements. As far as that goes, not being rude, but no one really considers SE MO apart of Missouri--it's 'the armpit of America' to most around here. So that's all I'm gonna say about that.
I could go on & on & on about this as I do a lot. Basically--30 mi. from MO/ARK border south (south Springfield all the way across MO-yes, including the armpit boothill) is southern and should be considered below the Mason-Dixon line. You cannot forget about Branson and surrounding little towns! STL AND KC ARE NOT SOUTH! NOTHING north of I-44 is south! I won't even go to a Cardinals game in STL because it's too far north and I hate it. I like KC but could never live there because it's too far north. Just my opinions from a Springfield native living in Branson, MO!
Tell us something we don't know. Regardless send them a message from me to stay out of my "State of Southeast Missouri". We don't give out passports to people with attitudes like that. Everyone should be proud of where they're from, no matter where it is. I'm from Southeast Missouri and I'm proud of it, so deal with it.
tell us something we don't know. Regardless send them a message from me to stay out of my "state of southeast missouri". We don't give out passports to people with attitudes like that. Everyone should be proud of where they're from, no matter where it is. I'm from southeast missouri and i'm proud of it, so deal with it.
"Ask somebody from Arkansas, which really is in the south, if they think southern Missourians are southerners and they'd laugh in your face. They'd call people from Springfield a bunch of damn yankees."
That is so not true. I have a friend that I met within the past year and he's from a little town on the Arkansas/Louisiana border. If that's not south then I don't know what is. He moved from there, north to here in Branson, MO on the AR/MO border, if you don't know where that is... considering NO ONE has brought up Branson, unbelievable. Anyway, he considers Branson southern, but not Springfield. I am from Springfield and I totally agree. The city population of Springfield is not anywhere near southern, but definitely are not 'Yankees'. The outer suburbs of Springfield is where all the 'country/southerners' live. Ex: Nixa & Ozark. I'd say south of James River Freeway in Springfield is what you consider 'the Southern part of SW MO'. Nothing near the city of Springfield and north toward I-44 is southern.
I also have a friend from Illinois, and he thinks my accent is "southern country"--not exactly "southern southern" but I have a "country" accent. He sounds like a damn Yankee to me and he went to Carbondale in southern Illi, by everyone's infamous 'SE Missouri and South Illinois are Southern' statements. As far as that goes, not being rude, but no one really considers SE MO apart of Missouri--it's 'the armpit of America' to most around here. So that's all I'm gonna say about that.
I could go on & on & on about this as I do a lot. Basically--30 mi. from MO/ARK border south (south Springfield all the way across MO-yes, including the armpit boothill) is southern and should be considered below the Mason-Dixon line. You cannot forget about Branson and surrounding little towns! STL AND KC ARE NOT SOUTH! NOTHING north of I-44 is south! I won't even go to a Cardinals game in STL because it's too far north and I hate it. I like KC but could never live there because it's too far north. Just my opinions from a Springfield native living in Branson, MO!
I'm from Bernie, MO. I was born and raised in the bootheel, IMHO we're Arkansas in denial! I have family from Piggot, Jonesboro, and Blytheville who all make fun of our southern accents and say ours are worse than theirs! Probably because the bootheel is so rural that it hasn't seen much influence, everything's fried or cooked with bacon grease and washed down with sweet tea, desserts are cobblers and pralines etc. I'm in the military now in Califprnia and I'm the "southern" guy at my station, they make fun of my accent daily, most the time when people ask me where I'm from I just tell em Arkansas just so I don't confuse em! Missouri is definitely a Midwestern state but the bootheel ain't Missouri, it's without a doubt Arkansas! It's not wash its warsh it's not oil it's awl, heel and hill sound the same, and groups are addressed as nothin but y'all, I've been to all parts of the south being in the military and just about every where I've been in the south people take me as a local, but in Cali I'm an alien!!! There's a warrant officer here from Georgia and we can talk for hours about good food, and how foreign we feel out here! But I'm goin to Virginia in about a month so I'm real happy about that!
I don't know if I like that armpit of the nation statement there! Our SE MO economy might lack a little, and our schools might not be that great but at least we still have that southern decency, people try to help people here, people are trustworthy and try to be good people, they help out their neighbors and regardless of how rude you are all you'd hear in response was god bless ya. It seems to me that the only part of Missouri with common decency and people trying to be good people is what your calling the armpit of the nation?? That don't make much sense to me! Branson might have a southern feel but I don't know that you could go as far to say the the majority of the population identify as southern, I think it's more just the theme they try to carry but not so much who they really are, but hey what do I know I'm from the armpit of the nation!
Missouri southern? Hahahaha! You obviously have never been to the south.
Missouri is actually a very peculiar place. It's like somebody slammed the north, south, east, and west all together. Kansas City, St. Louis, and Columbia are about as far from being southern as you can get. K.C. is much like the cities out west, St. Louis more like the cities to the east, and Columbia the large hippie commune caught in between. Any of those cities would seem far less southern like ideologically than even cities to the north like Omaha and Des Moines.
Northern Missouri and it's inhabitants, for the most part, are much like the rural areas of Iowa or northern Illinois.
The deep southern part of Missouri is about as close to being in the south as you will find. Even that area could, at the most, be coined as 'The South Light". Ask somebody from Arkansas, which really is in the south, if they think southern Missourians are southerners and they'd laugh in your face. They'd call people from Springfield a bunch of damn yankees.
The slavery issue in Missouri is largely misquoted and misunderstood. Slaves were allowed in Missouri but the majority of Missourians did not own, or approve of owning, slaves. That was part of the Missouri compromise. Missouri had no choice but to be admitted as such. However, when the civil war came about, Missouri fought on the union side of the war rather than secede.
If southeast Missouri ain't southern then I don't know what is because it's exactly like the Arkansas and Tennessee!
I don't know if I like that armpit of the nation statement there! Our SE MO economy might lack a little, and our schools might not be that great but at least we still have that southern decency, people try to help people here, people are trustworthy and try to be good people, they help out their neighbors and regardless of how rude you are all you'd hear in response was god bless ya. It seems to me that the only part of Missouri with common decency and people trying to be good people is what your calling the armpit of the nation?? That don't make much sense to me! Branson might have a southern feel but I don't know that you could go as far to say the the majority of the population identify as southern, I think it's more just the theme they try to carry but not so much who they really are, but hey what do I know I'm from the armpit of the nation!
Onegoal, you dont live in SE MO, and you have NEVER lived there, so please do those of us that actually are from there, and do live there a favor, stop trying to identify with us, and stop trying to rewrite the history of SE MO.
You just look ignorant.
Imagine that.
I certainly wouldn't call Mo a So state, what are you basing your feelings on? In fact we live on the Mo/AR border and even NWA isn't very southern. I guess you would have to go into the deep south to see the difference. I think of Mo as being pretty much the middle of America, both in attidtude and region as well as the weather...
Nita
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Southern MO
