In what ways is Southern Missouri southern, and in what ways is it not? (St. Louis: counties, places)
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I've lived in Cape County and I have to disagree with the St. Louis comment. I've made the trip up and down the I-55 corridor many times and I don't think Cape has any influence from St. Louis. I think the St. Louis influence ends when you get to Perryville and maybe even before. I would say that the Cape Girardeau area is either a blending area, or it's own culture that is about a 50/50 mix between the South and the Midwest.
I have made that trip up and down I-55 so many times from Sikeston to STL, I could take myself on a cruise if I had a dollar for each way, lol.
That being said, the cut off point in that area, heading south, is when one comes out of the hills onto the delta at Benton.
I have made that trip up and down I-55 so many times from Sikeston to STL, I could take myself on a cruise if I had a dollar for each way, lol.
That being said, the cut off point in that area, heading south, is when one comes out of the hills onto the delta at Benton.
Right I agree with you, but I was mainly referring to someone saying that Cape Girardeau has St. Louis influences.....I don't see it. The only two things I see from STL is Panera bread and some places sell the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
Right I agree with you, but I was mainly referring to someone saying that Cape Girardeau has St. Louis influences.....I don't see it. The only two things I see from STL is Panera bread and some places sell the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
Dont forget about all the kids from STL that go to school there......while that is rather intangible, its there.
I went to school for a semester there, and was surprised at how just their presence influenced the town.
Dont forget about all the kids from STL that go to school there......while that is rather intangible, its there.
I went to school for a semester there, and was surprised at how just their presence influenced the town.
Well I was actually enrolled there myself for this semester, and yes there are alot of kids from St. Louis. There are also several kids from the bootheel there and they have their influence too. I can probably count my visits to St. Louis on one hand in my lifetime but from what I can remember Cape is alot more like the bootheel than St. Louis. I duck hunt in the bootheel alot and I travel down there sometimes and I feel right at home. Rolla feels like a whole different world to me though. I personally notice alot more influences from St. Louis in Rolla than in Cape Girardeau. To each his own tho I suppose I have always self identified as a southerner and always will
Maybe those two influences I listed are what those influences by the STL kids are? After all, we didn't have a Panera bread until a few years ago.
Call me crazy, but I think there's a big difference between north Cape Girardeau and south Cape Girardeau as well. south Cape feels southern to me and north cape feels like the midwest. I think that outsiders are less willing to settle in south Cape because of it's older neighborhoods and lower property values. The gas stations in south Cape have sweet tea that's probably 10 times as good as you can get in north Cape, and any time I am craving sweet tea I go down to a gas station that's by the bridge in south Cape. Also the food offered as breakfast by restaraunts and gas stations is much better and reflects southern cuisine more so than north Cape. But perhaps maybe that is because the university is on the north side of town and there are more St. Louisians by them? lol
And I aint seen any alligators while bowfishin but we've killed quite a few cottonmouths over in Alexander County, Illinois. And yes I think Alexander County ILL is a southern culture and not a midwestern one. It stands in contrast to the entire state (Haven't been to Metropolis in years. It may be the same way since Paducah is right across the Ohio but I am not sure). I've heard true southern accents over there and there has always been a significant amount of rural blacks there. Cairo is the farthest southern point in Illinois. It's also a sad sad story of what racial strife will do to a booming town.
Last edited by GunnerTHB; 12-21-2010 at 07:50 PM..
I agree once you get closer to Cape is real Southern Culture. I used to live in florida and drove to and from St. Louis to Fl a few times. Places like Sikeston especially seemed very similar to driving in rural central Georgia.
The missouri Ozarks are southern in a mountain kind of way like you see in Arkansas, Missouri, and TN mountains more hillbillish. Sikeston, Hayti seem more southern in a Delta kind of way like you see in Mississippi.
Also in the civil war these places were pro Confederate as they sent many troops to the Missouri State Guard and Confederacy.
Well I was actually enrolled there myself for this semester, and yes there are alot of kids from St. Louis. There are also several kids from the bootheel there and they have their influence too. I can probably count my visits to St. Louis on one hand in my lifetime but from what I can remember Cape is alot more like the bootheel than St. Louis. I duck hunt in the bootheel alot and I travel down there sometimes and I feel right at home. Rolla feels like a whole different world to me though. I personally notice alot more influences from St. Louis in Rolla than in Cape Girardeau. To each his own tho I suppose I have always self identified as a southerner and always will
Maybe those two influences I listed are what those influences by the STL kids are? After all, we didn't have a Panera bread until a few years ago.
Call me crazy, but I think there's a big difference between north Cape Girardeau and south Cape Girardeau as well. south Cape feels southern to me and north cape feels like the midwest. I think that outsiders are less willing to settle in south Cape because of it's older neighborhoods and lower property values. The gas stations in south Cape have sweet tea that's probably 10 times as good as you can get in north Cape, and any time I am craving sweet tea I go down to a gas station that's by the bridge in south Cape. Also the food offered as breakfast by restaraunts and gas stations is much better and reflects southern cuisine more so than north Cape. But perhaps maybe that is because the university is on the north side of town and there are more St. Louisians by them? lol
And I aint seen any alligators while bowfishin but we've killed quite a few cottonmouths over in Alexander County, Illinois. And yes I think Alexander County ILL is a southern culture and not a midwestern one. It stands in contrast to the entire state (Haven't been to Metropolis in years. It may be the same way since Paducah is right across the Ohio but I am not sure). I've heard true southern accents over there and there has always been a significant amount of rural blacks there. Cairo is the farthest southern point in Illinois. It's also a sad sad story of what racial strife will do to a booming town.
When i was going to school in Cape for journalism, all the kids had to log time on the radio station.....all the STL kids would play what was popular on KSHE at the time, and thats all you would hear at parties and so forth.....now, this was quite a while ago, but the way the STL kids dressed also had a lot to do with what the local clothing stores carried in terms of merchandise.
Yes, I think the college population in North Cape has a lot to do with how North and South Cape feel different.
Having lived in Poplar Bluff, (ack!!!!) my mothers family is from there.....I can see both influences, but I always saw a LOT of STL influence in Cape......could be different now..........
Regarding alligators, I would really like to see someone provide some proof that they have been seen in the Mississippi as far up as the Bootheel, I think thats an urban myth.
I lived in Florida for 21 years, dont see that happening.......raised on the river at Ste Gen, none of the riverboat workers that I know have ever mentioned it.
When i was going to school in Cape for journalism, all the kids had to log time on the radio station.....all the STL kids would play what was popular on KSHE at the time, and thats all you would hear at parties and so forth.....now, this was quite a while ago, but the way the STL kids dressed also had a lot to do with what the local clothing stores carried in terms of merchandise.
Yes, I think the college population in North Cape has a lot to do with how North and South Cape feel different.
Having lived in Poplar Bluff, (ack!!!!) my mothers family is from there.....I can see both influences, but I always saw a LOT of STL influence in Cape......could be different now..........
Regarding alligators, I would really like to see someone provide some proof that they have been seen in the Mississippi as far up as the Bootheel, I think thats an urban myth.
I lived in Florida for 21 years, dont see that happening.......raised on the river at Ste Gen, none of the riverboat workers that I know have ever mentioned it.
Met a few guys this morning from Poplar Bluff after we didn't draw out duck huntin. And I highly doubt there being alligators in the bootheel myself. I've heard of feral hogs being seen down there tho. I didn't mind Bluff when I've been through there lol. Cape's feel does change during the summer when the college students are gone tho so maybe your right. I'm not sure what KSHE really plays....I know it's a rock station but is it alternative rock or something different than Realrock 99.3 or what? And I'm not sure of the dress your talking about (Cause I haven't spent much time in St. Louis) but if it's stuff like that hollister & american eagle stuff there's alot of high school kids that wore that stuff at Jackson High School. There were also alot of people that would make fun of them.
I figured it'd sound crazy sayin that north & south Cape have a completely different feel cause it ain't that big of a town after all. At least not compared to St. Louis. To me Cape is the big city but I've lived on a dead end gravel road my whole life. lol
Met a few guys this morning from Poplar Bluff after we didn't draw out duck huntin. And I highly doubt there being alligators in the bootheel myself. I've heard of feral hogs being seen down there tho. I didn't mind Bluff when I've been through there lol. Cape's feel does change during the summer when the college students are gone tho so maybe your right. I'm not sure what KSHE really plays....I know it's a rock station but is it alternative rock or something different than Realrock 99.3 or what? And I'm not sure of the dress your talking about (Cause I haven't spent much time in St. Louis) but if it's stuff like that hollister & american eagle stuff there's alot of high school kids that wore that stuff at Jackson High School. There were also alot of people that would make fun of them.
I figured it'd sound crazy sayin that north & south Cape have a completely different feel cause it ain't that big of a town after all. At least not compared to St. Louis. To me Cape is the big city but I've lived on a dead end gravel road my whole life. lol
Where were you guys duck hunting at? My dad used to go to Wappapello a lot, so did guys I knew from PB, lots of sloughs around that area, makes it easy to set up blinds.
Back in the day, KSHE was THE rock radio station, they played a lot of stuff you would never hear anywhere else, it was the best rock station in the country. These days, they play a mix of alt, metal, and what they call KSHE Klassics, which is basically all the great stuff from back in the day.
It always seemed to me that the STL kids dressed either a lot preppier, or more expensively than anyone else, I could spot someone from a long way off on campus and knew that they were from STL by the way they were dressed.
Cape is a bigger city now.....when I was going to school there, it was really pretty small, it had a small-town vibe Main St kind of thing on Broadway back then, and there were still a lot of shops on Main St.
I was amazed seeing how big it has grown!
Lol about the gravel road thing......Ste Gen had about 7K people in the whole county when I was growing up!
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Where were you guys duck hunting at? My dad used to go to Wappapello a lot, so did guys I knew from PB, lots of sloughs around that area, makes it easy to set up blinds.
Back in the day, KSHE was THE rock radio station, they played a lot of stuff you would never hear anywhere else, it was the best rock station in the country. These days, they play a mix of alt, metal, and what they call KSHE Klassics, which is basically all the great stuff from back in the day.
It always seemed to me that the STL kids dressed either a lot preppier, or more expensively than anyone else, I could spot someone from a long way off on campus and knew that they were from STL by the way they were dressed.
Cape is a bigger city now.....when I was going to school there, it was really pretty small, it had a small-town vibe Main St kind of thing on Broadway back then, and there were still a lot of shops on Main St.
I was amazed seeing how big it has grown!
Lol about the gravel road thing......Ste Gen had about 7K people in the whole county when I was growing up!
Well this morning we were near Puxico (Duck Creek Conservation Area). I don't listen to the radio station that SEMO has (actually they have two) and to tell you the truth I don't know of anyone that isn't a college student that does listen to it. Maybe I just don't know the right people so who knows? And Ste. Genevieve County is a pretty drive for sure. Going to Rolla I go up 55 to Highway 32 and take that west & it's a nice drive until you get stuck behind a tractor trailer doing about 40. lol. I don't think there's an empty shop on Main St. right now actually. There may be one or two on Spanish St. but downtown Cape ain't hurtin as bad as it used to be. Even the downtown part of Broadway is startin to fill back up (Thank the Lord cause there were a ton of eyesores down there). There are still a few buildings in bad shape but I think in the next few years those will either be gone or restored or renovated. It looks like Cape will be getting a casino in the next few years on north main so I guess it's gonna keep gettin bigger. I might have to move my country self somewhere else. (Although it's still a 20 minute drive to town)
And speaking of accents, if you want to hear the mix of accents and dialects in Southeast Missouri, just sit there before the draw duck huntin at Duck Creek, Otter Slough, and 10 Mile Pond. It's pretty cool actually.
Last edited by GunnerTHB; 12-22-2010 at 03:24 PM..
Reason: Gotta make sure you capitalize "Lord". Sorry Lord.
Well this morning we were near Puxico (Duck Creek Conservation Area). I don't listen to the radio station that SEMO has (actually they have two) and to tell you the truth I don't know of anyone that isn't a college student that does listen to it. Maybe I just don't know the right people so who knows? And Ste. Genevieve County is a pretty drive for sure. Going to Rolla I go up 55 to Highway 32 and take that west & it's a nice drive until you get stuck behind a tractor trailer doing about 40. lol. I don't think there's an empty shop on Main St. right now actually. There may be one or two on Spanish St. but downtown Cape ain't hurtin as bad as it used to be. Even the downtown part of Broadway is startin to fill back up (Thank the Lord cause there were a ton of eyesores down there). There are still a few buildings in bad shape but I think in the next few years those will either be gone or restored or renovated. It looks like Cape will be getting a casino in the next few years on north main so I guess it's gonna keep gettin bigger. I might have to move my country self somewhere else. (Although it's still a 20 minute drive to town)
And speaking of accents, if you want to hear the mix of accents and dialects in Southeast Missouri, just sit there before the draw duck huntin at Duck Creek, Otter Slough, and 10 Mile Pond. It's pretty cool actually.
LMAO about the accent thing! Some of the older folks in Ste Gen have a slight German cadence in the way they speak, my aunts all have a Southern accent you can cut with a knife, I have a hybrid STL/Poplar Bluff thing going on, I think living in Florida all those years helped with that....
Some of the flatlanders from the Bootheel have much different accents from people from Poplar Bluff and such, pretty interesting stuff, I always notice that, but I'm kind of a nerd that way.
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) my mothers family is from there.....I can see both influences, but I always saw a LOT of STL influence in Cape......could be different now..........
And I highly doubt there being alligators in the bootheel myself. I've heard of feral hogs being seen down there tho. I didn't mind Bluff when I've been through there lol. Cape's feel does change during the summer when the college students are gone tho so maybe your right. I'm not sure what KSHE really plays....I know it's a rock station but is it alternative rock or something different than Realrock 99.3 or what? And I'm not sure of the dress your talking about (Cause I haven't spent much time in St. Louis) but if it's stuff like that hollister & american eagle stuff there's alot of high school kids that wore that stuff at Jackson High School. There were also alot of people that would make fun of them. 
