"Litttle Dixie"...is it really still sort of southern? (Kansas City: neighborhood, elementary school)

[JefferyT]

I've read about a part of Missouri called Little Dixie. I think it is, despite the name, in the northern or north central part of the state, north of the Missouri River. Apparently it was settled by people from the upper South and had a slave population, siding with the South in the Civil War.

That's the history. What I'm curious about is if this is still an identifiable region or subculture in Missouri in modern times, and if so, how can you tell you are in "Little Dixie" (foodways, accent/dialect, architecture, etc)?

[Northwoods Voyager]

Originally Posted by JefferyT

I've read about a part of Missouri called Little Dixie. I think it is, despite the name, in the northern or north central part of the state, north of the Missouri River. Apparently it was settled by people from the upper South and had a slave population, siding with the South in the Civil War.

That's the history. What I'm curious about is if this is still an identifiable region or subculture in Missouri in modern times, and if so, how can you tell you are in "Little Dixie" (foodways, accent/dialect, architecture, etc)?

You might want to check this out:

Little Dixie (Missouri) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.......and this: http://littledixie.net/

This area is just north of where we live in Missouri.

[MoNative34]

Originally Posted by JefferyT

That's the history. What I'm curious about is if this is still an identifiable region or subculture in Missouri in modern times, and if so, how can you tell you are in "Little Dixie" (foodways, accent/dialect, architecture, etc)?

I would say that presently, those things that you mentioned are more in line and influenced by the rest of central and northern Missouri than that of influence from the migration back in the 1800s.

[danielj72]

I live in Michigan and have never heard the term "little dixie", but my grandparents are from boone county Missouri which according to Wikipedia is part of this area of southern influence populated by people from Ky, Tn, and ark. I guess that expalains why Ive always been told that our family was from the south. I had always questioned that because Boone county is quite a ways north in Missouri, far from what you would expect to be a more southern area. I guess that explains my love of sweet tea and fried green tomatos.

[lifelongMOgal]

Thanks for the informative post. I'd never heard of "Little Dixie" but was raised to know that I was a Southerner because I was born in Missouri. Pre-civil war (a.k.a war of Northern agression) my family came to MO from KY as did many.

If one travels to Glasgow, MO there is evidence of the old "Southern" plantations there in the hill country above the Missouri River. Besides hemp and tobacco slaves were also used to help mine salt. Salt from Missouri was then shipped down the river to the South and S.E. for the creation of those famous Virginia "salt-cured" hams. Missouri tobacco country extends all the way N.W. to Weston, MO. Even the "Troost" area neighborhood of Kansas City was once a plantation.

I think another indicator of "Little Dixie" is the skepticism (healthy) reflected in VanDiver's speech attributed to our state motto as the "show-me" state. It has always seemed to me that while Southerners are gracious and friendly they are also private and skeptical of others until they have had time to measure one's character through actions and not words.

But, that is just my opinion.

[lifelongMOgal]

Found this map and thought I'd share:

United States Slave Map

[Alicia Bradley]

Yes, but this isn't limited to just the "Little Dixie" area... you'll find heavy doses of Southern culture all over the state... more, obviously, in the southern parts than in the northern parts, but you'd be surprised. This is a *hotly* debated topic on this forum, though, and you'll find individuals who will disagree strongly with me (despite lots and lots of statistical and anecdotal/empirical evidence to the contrary). But I'm not going to argue with them this time around, so there.

[cyrano]

To answer the original question...no. Or not exactly. As is noted elsewhere, there's a lot of southern culture to be found in Missouri, but the Wikipedia article is, to my understanding, correct-- what defined "Little Dixie" was less about cultural values and more about a place where cotton could be grown profitably-- and since Missouri, by virtue of the 1820 Missouri Compromise, was a slave state, slave-cultivated and harvested cotton was done in Little Dixie-- according to the Wikipedia article (which I've seen confirmed elsewhere), this was started by southerners looking for cotton-growing land.

My work takes me all over the state, and I see many, MANY more Confederate flags and southernness further south in the state than in "Little Dixie" itself, but the land in the south of the state wasn't conducive to cotton farming.* I can pretty much guarantee that there is very, very little southern influence in the county seat of Boone County, where I live. Well, except for Catfish Corner, up north of town. Good food there, BTW, I highly recommend it. But I'm not even sure that it's in the city limits.

My kid and stepkid walked to Ulysses S. Grant Elementary School from home. How southern is that?



*Aside-- know why the Capitol is located in Jefferson City? Primarily because the land was cheap, because it's too hilly and rocky to be good farm land.

[Arundel]

Originally Posted by JefferyT

I've read about a part of Missouri called Little Dixie. I think it is, despite the name, in the northern or north central part of the state, north of the Missouri River. Apparently it was settled by people from the upper South and had a slave population, siding with the South in the Civil War.

That's the history. What I'm curious about is if this is still an identifiable region or subculture in Missouri in modern times, and if so, how can you tell you are in "Little Dixie" (foodways, accent/dialect, architecture, etc)?

I have always lived in northeast Missouri, but when I moved to Shelby County I heard 'little Dixie' mentioned a lot. Several of the counties near Shelby Co. were called little Dixie. I have been in one county where the old homes very definitely had a southern influence. As to language I noticed mine changing some while I lived there. I worked for the prosecuting attorney in the courthouse and came in contact with many people. I began to notice I had picked up some of their 'southern' speech patterns. WhenI moved from Shelby Co. to the St. Louis area, people I worked with thought I had a slight southern accent. I told them I probably picked it up when I lived in Shelby Co. But there definitely is an area north of the Missouri River, in the central part that is well known as 'little Dixie.'
Arundel