Is West Virginia Southern? (Morgantown, Athens: college, airports, farms)

[CookieSkoon]

Originally Posted by Marietta89

I live in Southeast Ohio and we have more things in common with Eastern KY and WV than the rest of Ohio culturally speaking.

West Virginia is dixie.

The states of the southern region of the Appalachians are eastern Kentucky, southeastern Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee.


Appalachian Culture

I'm still waiting for that list from you Marietta.

I wish to point out that a lot of West Virginia and all of southeast Ohio are in the Alleghenies. The Allegheny region is decidedly northern geographically (encompassing Pennsylvania and New York as well). And it is seen as such by almost everybody from the real south.

That site you linked to has some oddities to it. First of all it acknowledges that there is a northern Appalachian region and a southern one, but says the southern one is all of Appalachia. :V

And then it says this at the bottom, "In 1965, the US Congress created the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) to support economic and social development in Appalachia. The program serves parts of 13 states from both the Northern and Southern Regions. The states are: West Virginia, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The federal government grants moneys to state, county and local agencies to encourage and improve education, transportation, and medical care. One example of these agencies is the Jesse Stuart Foundation whose missions is “preserving the literary legacy of Jesse Stuart while fostering appreciation of the Appalachian way of life through…book publishing and other activities.” It was founded in 1979 by University of Louisville professor, Dr. Harold Richardson. In 1985, Dr. James Gifford became the foundation executive director and opened full-time offices in Ashland, Kentucky. They produce books to be used in schools by teachers and librarians that “…make reading fun for children while teaching solid values at the same time.”

After saying that the southern region is called Appalachia it then acknowledges the northern region as also being called Appalachia.

Also correct me if I'm wrong, but that site never said that the two geographical regions had nothing in common.

[cry_havoc]

The problem with considering an area like WV southern is that these geographic areas dont start and stop at state lines.

There is a core area of the South, and a periphery area. I would argue that parts of Southern WV are southern, but most of the state is not. Some parts of WV are in the rust belt, like Wheeling and perhaps even Huntington. Without a doubt the whole state is Appalachian.

It is similar to Texas. Some people consider Texas and others dont. For sure Eastern Texas is southern, but western Texas is Southwestern.

[j_cat]

Originally Posted by cry_havoc

The problem with considering an area like WV southern is that these geographic areas dont start and stop at state lines.

There is a core area of the South, and a periphery area. I would argue that parts of Southern WV are southern, but most of the state is not. Some parts of WV are in the rust belt, like Wheeling and perhaps even Huntington. Without a doubt the whole state is Appalachian.

It is similar to Texas. Some people consider Texas and others dont. For sure Eastern Texas is southern, but western Texas is Southwestern.

I don't know the South that well, but I do know the West and the North enough to know that west Texas is NOT the West (except for El Paso, sadly) and that nowhere in West Virginia is the North, except maybe the little panhandle near Pittsburgh. Of course, Pittsburgh itself is not entirely northern, what with some of their dialect features like "far" for fire.

[cry_havoc]

Originally Posted by j_cat

I don't know the South that well, but I do know the West and the North enough to know that west Texas is NOT the West (except for El Paso, sadly) and that nowhere in West Virginia is the North, except maybe the little panhandle near Pittsburgh. Of course, Pittsburgh itself is not entirely northern, what with some of their dialect features like "far" for fire.

I never said Texas was in the west, I said parts were in the Southwest, and then you went and agreed that El Paso is Southwestern. So im not sure what you are getting at.

Also, I never said WV is northern in my post, although I would argue that Morgantown, the Northern Panhandle, and Martinsburg are in the Northern Periphery, which means they are not a core area with strong northern influence.

[j_cat]

Originally Posted by cry_havoc

I never said Texas was in the west, I said parts were in the Southwest, and then you went and agreed that El Paso is Southwestern. So im not sure what you are getting at.

Also, I never said WV is northern in my post, although I would argue that Morgantown, the Northern Panhandle, and Martinsburg are in the Northern Periphery, which means they are not a core area with strong northern influence.

Okay, that all makes sense, except that for some reason you don't seem to consider Southwest to be a subset of West.

[kidphilly]

Originally Posted by CookieSkoon

I'm still waiting for that list from you Marietta.

I wish to point out that a lot of West Virginia and all of southeast Ohio are in the Alleghenies. The Allegheny region is decidedly northern geographically (encompassing Pennsylvania and New York as well). And it is seen as such by almost everybody from the real south.

That site you linked to has some oddities to it. First of all it acknowledges that there is a northern Appalachian region and a southern one, but says the southern one is all of Appalachia. :V

And then it says this at the bottom, "In 1965, the US Congress created the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) to support economic and social development in Appalachia. The program serves parts of 13 states from both the Northern and Southern Regions. The states are: West Virginia, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The federal government grants moneys to state, county and local agencies to encourage and improve education, transportation, and medical care. One example of these agencies is the Jesse Stuart Foundation whose missions is “preserving the literary legacy of Jesse Stuart while fostering appreciation of the Appalachian way of life through…book publishing and other activities.” It was founded in 1979 by University of Louisville professor, Dr. Harold Richardson. In 1985, Dr. James Gifford became the foundation executive director and opened full-time offices in Ashland, Kentucky. They produce books to be used in schools by teachers and librarians that “…make reading fun for children while teaching solid values at the same time.”

After saying that the southern region is called Appalachia it then acknowledges the northern region as also being called Appalachia.

Also correct me if I'm wrong, but that site never said that the two geographical regions had nothing in common.

There are parts of WV further north than Philadelphia, Trenton NJ, and Staten Island NY; actually the northermost pat may actually be further north than Manhattan

[cry_havoc]

Originally Posted by j_cat

Okay, that all makes sense, except that for some reason you don't seem to consider Southwest to be a subset of West.

I really don't. Technically the South is the southeast, but I dont often hear Mississippi being considered in the "cultural east," which usually refers to New England and the mid atlantic region.

I would say El Paso is on the periphery of the Southwest, of which some parts are in the west.

El Paso is actually in the central south of the country.

Another interesting city is San Antonio. It isnt southern, but it isnt southwestern. I cannot think of a region to put that city into.

[j_cat]

Originally Posted by cry_havoc

I really don't. Technically the South is the southeast, but I dont often hear Mississippi being considered in the "cultural east," which usually refers to New England and the mid atlantic region.

I would say El Paso is on the periphery of the Southwest, of which some parts are in the west.

El Paso is actually in the central south of the country.

Another interesting city is San Antonio. It isnt southern, but it isnt southwestern. I cannot think of a region to put that city into.

Alright then. I always thought of it as Southwest + Northwest = West, which is really just one unified region anyway.

But anyway, about this West Virginia issue...

[Traveler87]

Originally Posted by Marietta89

I live in Southeast Ohio and we have more things in common with Eastern KY and WV than the rest of Ohio culturally speaking.

West Virginia is dixie.

The states of the southern region of the Appalachians are eastern Kentucky, southeastern Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee.


Appalachian Culture

I will agree, SE Ohio is nothing like the rest of Ohio. The rest of Ohio has major cities, high population density, and an extensive freeway network. The other poster made mention that Southern Ohio is like West Virginia?!?! How is Cincinnati and Dayton (2.2 million and 1.1 million people) like West Virginia in any way? There are a lot of people that trace their roots from Kentucky and West Virginia in the SW Ohio region. SE Ohio is the only comparable part of Ohio that could be like West Virginia. SE Ohio is like Northern WV, though. Southern WV and Eastern Kentucky are not like SE Ohio at all really. SE Ohio, N WV, and Central and Western PA are all one group of Appalachia that can say they have similar traits. I am not just talking about similar latitudes, topography, etc. Athens and Morgantown are very similar in that they are home to big universities and are purely college towns set in the hills surrounded by nothing but woods. You have the river towns of the Panhandle, SE Ohio, and Western PA. These areas are more in line culturally than Southern WV and Eastern Kentucky.

A lot of West Virginians like people from Kentucky, have moved to Pennsylvania or Ohio to find opportunity back in the day when the big cities began to grow and offer thousands of jobs. That is why you see influences from these people in cities even as far north as Akron. Today, Pittsburgh, Columbus, and Cincinnati bring in a lot of young West Virginians from a job standpoint while staying close to home. Plus, you always see a lot of plates from West Virginia in these cities for shopping, airports, museums, etc.

Overall, SE Ohio is not like Eastern Kentucky, and is very similar to NORTHERN WV. It sits in the Applachian foothills, has the small town culture, but beyond that, I don't see SE Ohio being anything like Southern WV.

[CookieSkoon]

Originally Posted by kidphilly

There are parts of WV further north than Philadelphia, Trenton NJ, and Staten Island NY; actually the northermost pat may actually be further north than Manhattan

Oh yes I know.