Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The state gets more Southern the closer you get to the Sweet tea line. But in general, Kentucky is a hybrid “Ohio River” Midwest/Appalachian state. A bit West Virginia, a bit Indiana, with a trace of Tennessee.
Louisville is not a state. As a border city, it's a mixed bag of upper South and Midwest. Churchill Downs is a good example of upper South architecture and tradition alive and well. Regardless of who moves there and lives there now, Louisville will always maintain some Southern qualities. KY is generally Southern in culture, history and location being south of the Ohio River. I live in KY on the Ohio River, not in Louisville. KY as a state, ticks almost all the boxes of being Southern. Most people here claim to be Southerners (upper South), about 95% speak with a Southern accent, and eat many southern foods and so on, and I am no where near Tennessee, but across the river from Ohio.
Last edited by marino760; 06-11-2022 at 07:19 AM..
I'm going with:
Oklahoma.
Texas.
Both have strong southern traits in the east, western in the west, and a slight dusting of midwest in parts of OK. Going north, Kansas quickly starts to look a lot different in terms of the built environment and culture, and there's no doubting what region it's in.
Both TX and OK are very much their own thing though. The two kind of form their own sub-region.
West Virginia. Seriously, what in the world is it? Not midwestern at all. They broke away from the south on purpose. Not quite northeastern, but that's what it seemed like looking up there from Arkansas.
Missouri isn't really its own thing like those but it seems to confuse some people. It's decidedly midwestern with strong southern traits the further south you go.
The bootheel is basically Arkansas and it almost was were it not for some landowner that didn't want to be a part of Arkansas.
Look it up, it's kind of a funny story. Having lived in both states some 150 years after the fact, I can't say much about the guy's reasoning has changed.
Florida at its core is southern. They just have a LOT more transplants than any other southern state.
Hawaii? Hmm. Never been there but it seems like it would fit in out west somewhere if it were on the mainland.
Louisville is not a state. As a border city, it's a mixed bag of upper South and Midwest. Churchill Downs is a good example of upper South architecture and tradition alive and well. Regardless of who moves there and lives there now, Louisville will always maintain some Southern qualities. KY is generally Southern in culture, history and location being south of the Ohio River. I live in KY on the Ohio River, not in Louisville. KY as a state, ticks almost all the boxes of being Southern. Most people here claim to be Southerners (upper South), about 95% speak with a Southern accent, and eat many southern foods and so on, and I am no where near Tennessee, but across the river from Ohio.
I was responding to a particular post about Louisville, as I am indeed aware it’s not a state.
As far as Kentucky, well it spent much of it’s infancy with an identity as the West. Then as the frontier moved, it built an identity with its river mates in Southern Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana. It pointedly took sides with the Union. It was only after the war that Kentucky, looking for an identity, chanced upon horsing. It then played up its Southernness to attract NY money who wanted to leave the regulated Northeast gambling scene behind but didn’t want to go full Dixie. So it was during the Gilded Age that Kentucky found it’s Southern roots, or at least so this theory goes. I can’t say I came up with it, but it’s compelling. Reminds me of that story about the Ulster Protestant, who were more English than the English, manufacturing a total makeover to stand apart.
But also, no sweet tea. It’s the little things that will get you every time.
I was responding to a particular post about Louisville, as I am indeed aware it’s not a state.
As far as Kentucky, well it spent much of it’s infancy with an identity as the West. Then as the frontier moved, it built an identity with its river mates in Southern Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana. It pointedly took sides with the Union. It was only after the war that Kentucky, looking for an identity, chanced upon horsing. It then played up its Southernness to attract NY money who wanted to leave the regulated Northeast gambling scene behind but didn’t want to go full Dixie. So it was during the Gilded Age that Kentucky found it’s Southern roots, or at least so this theory goes. I can’t say I came up with it, but it’s compelling. Reminds me of that story about the Ulster Protestant, who were more English than the English, manufacturing a total makeover to stand apart.
But also, no sweet tea. It’s the little things that will get you every time.
You are joking right? I live in KY and not anywhere near TN and sweet tea is everywhere, in every restaurant and every grocery store pre-made.
You're also wrong about it "pointedly" taking sides with the Union. KY was a big slave state complete with plantations and slave auctions sending many slaves south. There's a museum here dedicated to Harriet Beecher Stowe, who visited and stayed in this border town. A few doors down from where she was visiting, she witnessed a slave auction at the old courthouse. It was this auction which moved her to write the book, Uncle Tom's Cabin.
When the Civil War broke out, the governor of KY declared neutrality because KY was not ready nor capable of repelling Union Armies just across the Ohio river from Louisville. Louisville would have immediately been turned to rubble. Even so, the governor told Lincoln he would not give the Union $1 or 1 man to fight against his sister Southern states. Kentucky was very soon overrun by the Union Army anyway but Louisville was spared. KY only has two Union monuments which are located on the border of Midwest states. All other monuments (and there are many) are dedicated to Confederates.
I have no idea what kind of history books you've read, or where you have visited other than perhaps Louisville, but you could not be more mistaken about KY. I won't go on, but I could give you much more history and information.
Maryland…I have friends that have a dialect from the NE, but they like to eat livermush for breakfast and chitterlings for Thanksgiving.
I also think Missouri is hard to categorize.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
