Missouri...Southern or Midwestern? (Sikeston, Poplar Bluff: land , live, culture)

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by ajf131

Southern Missouri to me does not really seem to lean towards any particular region. You see a true clash of cultures in the parts of the state south of Highway 50 in my opinion. But as far as I am concerned, you are not definitively in the South until you are below Springfield, Joplin, or Cape Girardeau. Poplar Bluff and Sikeston I agree are Southern, but you have to remember that this was territory that would have been part of Arkansas had Missouri not been so insistent on having it upon statehood. The parts of Missouri that dip into the South are very different from most of the state. I still believe that overall Missouri is ultimately a Midwestern state...by today's standards anyway. An overwhelming majority of its counties have German as their primary influence, its agriculture is Midwestern, its climate is more Midwestern than Southern, Southern dialect is predominant in only the extreme Southern parts of the state, it supported the Union in the Civil War and did not secede, its major cities (except for those practically knocking on arkansas and kentucky's doors) are culturally, architecturally, and economically Midwestern...Catholics and Baptists are both big presences in the state (like in its neighbors: Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio). In addition, Southern cuisine is hard to find here. Missouri I agree does have a major Southern component to it, but to me it is the Southern Midwest, as Northwoods put it: A Lower Midwestern state with Southern influences. Today that is certainly the best way to describe it.

How would you classify Washington County?
Here is a quote from a previous thread:
from C/D junior member jay-j

"My brother bought property 30 yrs. ago in Potosi. He was in the service and just recently retired from the military. We used to go 3-4 times a yr. to check on the property for him and dearly enjoyed the countryside. We were not able to go to the property in the last 2 yrs, but I finally made it. In 2 years, the area around & my brother's property has become a dump site. Not only is there meth being produced, but moonshine and mariuana are the next ranked commodities. I do mean land fill type dump site. I thought I took the wrong road (had no tresspassing signs), so I went to city hall. They were kind enough to give me a copy of an ariel map of the area. They had his property plotted wrong. (There were certain markers that distiguished his property- powerlines running through) When I brought this to their attention the reply was "OH-H, I don't doubt that!". A city official informed there are no zoning regulations, when asked about the dumping. When told of state laws and Epa regulation on dumping he kind of laughed and then dimissed me. With a survey, real estate attorney and documentation from 2 previous owners, we are preparing to go to court just to get them to plot the land correctly."

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by Plains10

How would you classify Washington County?
Here is a quote from a previous thread:
from C/D junior member jay-j

"My brother bought property 30 yrs. ago in Potosi. He was in the service and just recently retired from the military. We used to go 3-4 times a yr. to check on the property for him and dearly enjoyed the countryside. We were not able to go to the property in the last 2 yrs, but I finally made it. In 2 years, the area around & my brother's property has become a dump site. Not only is there meth being produced, but moonshine and mariuana are the next ranked commodities. I do mean land fill type dump site. I thought I took the wrong road (had no tresspassing signs), so I went to city hall. They were kind enough to give me a copy of an ariel map of the area. They had his property plotted wrong. (There were certain markers that distiguished his property- powerlines running through) When I brought this to their attention the reply was "OH-H, I don't doubt that!". A city official informed there are no zoning regulations, when asked about the dumping. When told of state laws and Epa regulation on dumping he kind of laughed and then dimissed me. With a survey, real estate attorney and documentation from 2 previous owners, we are preparing to go to court just to get them to plot the land correctly."

Washington County, quite simple...it's in the Ozark foothills, where you can't farm, thus making a rural living is difficult, therefore a lot of people resort to drugs and meth production. This doesn't really doesn't give Washington County a classification in my opinion. Southeastern Ohio has counties which are similar to Washington County.

[tonysdca]

Having grown up in Southeast Missouri I can definitely affirm it is Southern. One of the reasons it differs from the northern part of the state has to do with historic immigration to different parts of the state at different times. Much of St Louis and areas around it were settled by French and German immigrants - very Catholic. The bootheel (Southeast Missouri) was settled by the English, but more importantly there was large scale immigration there from Alabama and Tennessee in the late 1800s. You will find that the language, food, and religion (Southern Baptist) are very similar to other areas of the Mid-South like Tennessee and Kentucky. So when people ask me if Missouri is midwest or south - I point out it is both. "Mid-south" is a good term to describe those of us from the area south of Cape Girardeau and west to Poplar Bluff.
The Ozarks pretty much have their own culture, but it is similar to Appalachia. Sadly, Southeast Missouri is economically very depressed, as manufacturing left long ago, agriculture is limited to the landed gentry - so you have a lot of poor people and a rather racially polarized society. It makes me rather sad when I return to visit.

[OA 5599]

I grew up in south-central Missouri, and it isn't really Southern or Midwestern....it is somewhere in between. The culture seems similar to central and eastern Tennessee and Kentucky which I've been through (however it is different than the coal country of KY and WV), but that part of the Ozarks lacks a southern accent, although quite a few people definitely have somewhat of a drawl. As soon as you get to SE Missouri, (west of Poplar Bluff and south of Cape) it feels much more southern. The accent seems to change to more of a southern accent, and there is a rural black population, which doesn't exist anywhere else in the state, and leads that area to be feel southern. I alway tell people that the southern Ozarks where I am from is more of a transition zone between the Midwest and the South. All of my family is from the upper Midwest and I was born there so I consider myself a Midwesterner, but the Ozarks are home.

[cheryljo]

Wow, that was right on!

[stepka]

Northwoods said:

We are not an eastern state. We are not a western state, Nor are we a northern or southern state. We can be truly, IMHO be considered a Midwestern state with Southern influences: A southern Midwest state. Again, unique in every way is Missouri. I am truly proud of it. Born and raised in the CWE of St. Louis of peoples from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. All wonderful ancestors from southern states.

We are certainly a mixed bag. It's not so easy to divide it by north of this hwy or south of that one. SE MO certainly has the southern accents, but during the civil war, Bloomfield, which is solidly within SE MO, was union and was invaded from the north by the confederates. It was that way all over the state during that time--you couldn't divide the state evenly. And most of my people are from SE MO and they're mostly democrats--as G-ma says, "I'm a yellow dog democrat!"

The Ozarks just can't be classified, and that's what's so great about it. The original settlers didn't go there to farm--they went to hide in a holler and live out their lives in the way they most preferred--in nature and a semi hunter gatherer lifestyle. Of course it's a lot more settled up since then, but some of those old attitudes still prevail, and it's a beautiful thing. That and the fried pies.

[goat314]

Its very hard to classify a state like Missouri, because it literally is the transition state of the United States due to its location. Western people will say its eastern, eastern will say its western, southern will say its northern, northern will say its southern, and the circle continues and continues. Missouri is Missouri and thats the only way you can describe it, no other state really resembles it or feels like it. I will say that St. Louis fits in more with the rust belt cities (Cleveland and Chicago), while Kansas City is more of a western city (like Denver or OKC). In between feels kind of Southern, but I will it fits in best with the Midwestern states overall.

[Northwoods Voyager]

Yes, a southern Midwest state. No bouts adoubt it!

[ajf131]

Glad to see more people are seeing things my way. Southern Missouri, like Southern Illinois, and Southern Indiana, is its own entity. The Northern half in my opinion is Midwestern. A southern Midwest state, a.k.a. the Lower Midwest, is the best way to classify Missouri. since it fits in best with the Midwestern states, as goat314 pointed out, i therefore say that Missouri is a Midwestern state with small pockets that lean more Southern (Note that Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio also have clear Southern influences). The Ozarks in my opinion are both Southern and Midwestern. Around Branson, I think there is no doubt you are in the South. Springfield and Joplin are kind of both. SE Missouri I agree is solidly Southern, especially south of Cape Girardeau.

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by OA 5599

I grew up in south-central Missouri, and it isn't really Southern or Midwestern....it is somewhere in between. The culture seems similar to central and eastern Tennessee and Kentucky which I've been through (however it is different than the coal country of KY and WV), but that part of the Ozarks lacks a southern accent, although quite a few people definitely have somewhat of a drawl. As soon as you get to SE Missouri, (west of Poplar Bluff and south of Cape) it feels much more southern. The accent seems to change to more of a southern accent, and there is a rural black population, which doesn't exist anywhere else in the state, and leads that area to be feel southern. I alway tell people that the southern Ozarks where I am from is more of a transition zone between the Midwest and the South. All of my family is from the upper Midwest and I was born there so I consider myself a Midwesterner, but the Ozarks are home.

I presume you mean east of Poplar Bluff, yes? In any case, I think you are right on the money.