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Old 10-18-2014, 11:42 PM
 
Location: Kansas City, MO
3,565 posts, read 7,928,757 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mrfgsn View Post
St. Louis is culturally, demographically, and linguistically not Southern. And Kansas City historically has a history of being much more Southern than STL ever was. The Southern line for Missouri extends from Cape Girardeau to Springfield to Joplin. The transition zone begins below St. Louis, Jeff City, and Kansas City. Get your facts straight. You wouldn't know Southern if it smacked you in the face.
What you've said about Kansas City sounds about right. There were slave plantations on the land that became inner city Kansas City in areas that within the same distance of downtown St. Louis were already developed and urban. However, if you had to decide which city has retained Southern culture the most or otherwise has the strongest Southern influence, I'm not sure it would be Kansas City. Maybe. Many of the towns, including some of the suburbs, around Kansas City are very old and older than Kansas City itself, and have strong Southern heritage. I'm talking about places like Lexington, Liberty, and Independence. I'm not sure if this is true and haven't been able to verify it, but I heard that after the Civil War Liberty refused to fly the US flag at its city hall until WWI. I'm not sure how the area immediately around St. Louis compares to that of Kansas City though. It seems like St. Louis might have pulled in more Southerners during industrial migration. I mean, it is right up the river, a natural highway, and has been connected to the South via an interstate for a long time. Not to mention it basically abuts the Ozarks and is basically a border city (in that there were no other large industrial centers between it and the South to intercept Southerners moving North for jobs). I have heard that the southern sections of metro St. Louis are fairly Southern. Many old industrial cities had what were basically Southern (white) or "redneck" ghettos or enclaves. Where in St. Louis city might such a place have been historically? Are there any signs of it today?
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Old 10-19-2014, 12:21 AM
 
Location: Kansas City, MO
3,565 posts, read 7,928,757 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by imbored198824 View Post
tried to do this awhile back but the thread ended up not staying on the subject. I'm going to list 15 Missouri cities in random order. Compile your list of how you feel they rank on their southern vibe...from
Most southern to least southern!!! Let's have fun with this!!!
St. Louis
Kansas City
Springfield
Joplin
Sikeston
Potosi
Cape girardeau
Branson
Jefferson City
Columbia
St. Joseph
West plains
Popular bluff
Caruthersville
Jackson
Quote:
Originally Posted by imbored198824 View Post
Anyone care to venture back to the original question and compile a list?
I'm not familiar with the towns in the south central and southeast part of the state that you've mentioned, so I can't really say. I've heard that far southeast Missouri, meaning the Bootheel, has retained its Southern culture and is distinctly Southern. I believe there were cotton plantations there and that cotton is still grown there. I've heard that Missouri's Bootheel is the northern most area that is sometimes considered the Deep South due to the influence of the Mississippi River and its delta. I've also heard that sweet tea and Southern accents are features of that area. To the best of my knowledge without having been there, I believe that area is probably truly Southern.

Now, with the above said, lately I've been leaning less toward thinking most of the rest of Missouri is anything but a transition zone were Southern and Midwestern culture and traits are blended, much like southern Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. However, I do recognize think Missouri is the most Southern Midwestern state. From what I can see without having been there, southern Illinois might give Missouri a run for its money. But still, Missouri is the only Midwestern state whose identity is questionable, that had slavery, that might have actually been a Southern state (before the Civil War), and that Southern religious patterns are so strong in the entire state. Missouri is also the Midwestern state with the largest pattern of ancestry that is typical of the South.

Still, I recently went on a week-long trip through much of Arkansas. When I crossed back into Missouri thinks just felt different. While I didn't get much time to really inspect, when I was in Branson I was looking around and thinking "you know, I'm not sure this place is really all that Southern". That thought was despite my otherwise thinking that the bottom two or three tiers of counties in Missouri do feel different from the rest of the state, at least in the southwest. That may simply be geology though. Anyway, I did see Dixie Outfitters and Dixie Stampede and I know there are a few other Southern-type things in Branson, but I just don't know. I was there only a short time, but I didn't here any Southern accents like I did in Arkansas. I did here a Ukrainian accent though. And one place I ate at, a buffet, I asked for sweet tea and the (black, for what it's worth) woman snapped back "we don't have sweet tea", as if my asking was offensive. If you're wondering, that was at the Grand Country Buffet. When I was in Arkansas sweet tea was being ordered left and right and was everywhere.

Now with all of that said, I have a ton of family from southern Missouri and know other families from there too. They all did or have Southern (largely Appalachian) traits. A friend of mine said he knows a guy from West Plains who now lives in Branson with a strong Southern accent. Anyway, I'd like to explorer southern and southeast Missouri more, but as it is I'm just not sure it's as Southern as I was liking to think before or as much as you would like to think. I don't know why though. I've wondered if after the Civil War some of the original Southern culture got washed out, rejected, and if people intentionally distanced themselves from it and began fancying themselves Midwesterners. I think some of the younger generation fancies themselves Midwesterners simply because that's what they're told at school, etc. and just go with it. Not to mention being Southern isn't necessarily cool and is the opposite of what young people of some persuasions want to be, so they may reject it all and not identify as being so even if there families really are Southern. I don't know if it's true, but I suspect that maybe the state line became much more of a divide after the Civil War than it was before. I should also mention Missouri, even southern Missouri, has a lot of Germans. Yes, there's a strong pattern of ancestry typical of the South too, but still.

I should also mention Confederate flags. I saw them regularly in Arkansas, both the Stars and Bars and Battle Flags. In two cases they appeared to be put there by the towns. One was some small town south of Fort Smith along 71 and the other was Hot Springs. The only place I've seen a Confederate flag in Missouri was on somebody's house in Lexington.

Last edited by MOKAN; 10-19-2014 at 12:30 AM..
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Old 10-19-2014, 10:18 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MOKAN View Post
What you've said about Kansas City sounds about right. There were slave plantations on the land that became inner city Kansas City in areas that within the same distance of downtown St. Louis were already developed and urban. However, if you had to decide which city has retained Southern culture the most or otherwise has the strongest Southern influence, I'm not sure it would be Kansas City. Maybe. Many of the towns, including some of the suburbs, around Kansas City are very old and older than Kansas City itself, and have strong Southern heritage. I'm talking about places like Lexington, Liberty, and Independence. I'm not sure if this is true and haven't been able to verify it, but I heard that after the Civil War Liberty refused to fly the US flag at its city hall until WWI. I'm not sure how the area immediately around St. Louis compares to that of Kansas City though. It seems like St. Louis might have pulled in more Southerners during industrial migration. I mean, it is right up the river, a natural highway, and has been connected to the South via an interstate for a long time. Not to mention it basically abuts the Ozarks and is basically a border city (in that there were no other large industrial centers between it and the South to intercept Southerners moving North for jobs). I have heard that the southern sections of metro St. Louis are fairly Southern. Many old industrial cities had what were basically Southern (white) or "redneck" ghettos or enclaves. Where in St. Louis city might such a place have been historically? Are there any signs of it today?
Both cities had Southern migrants. St. Louis overwhelmingly supported the Union in the Civil War. Western Missouri, where Jesse James was from, was extremely pro-Confederate. And the Ozarks are not entirely Southern....I'd say around Rolla is roughly where the Midwest and South meet along I-44, and Cape Girardeau roughly on I-55. St. Louis and Kansas City are both Midwestern cities. Lexington, Independence, and Liberty may have Southern heritage but are all Midwestern today. St. Louis and Kansas City, like all Midwestern cities, took in white Southerners and blacks in the Great Migration. The southern sections of metro St. Louis aren't Southern at all. Maybe in topography they are because that's where the Ozarks geographically start, but in terms of culture, linguistics, and demographics, Franklin County and Jefferson County resemble St. Louis County.
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Old 10-19-2014, 10:25 AM
 
89 posts, read 127,621 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MOKAN View Post
I'm not familiar with the towns in the south central and southeast part of the state that you've mentioned, so I can't really say. I've heard that far southeast Missouri, meaning the Bootheel, has retained its Southern culture and is distinctly Southern. I believe there were cotton plantations there and that cotton is still grown there. I've heard that Missouri's Bootheel is the northern most area that is sometimes considered the Deep South due to the influence of the Mississippi River and its delta. I've also heard that sweet tea and Southern accents are features of that area. To the best of my knowledge without having been there, I believe that area is probably truly Southern.

Now, with the above said, lately I've been leaning less toward thinking most of the rest of Missouri is anything but a transition zone were Southern and Midwestern culture and traits are blended, much like southern Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. However, I do recognize think Missouri is the most Southern Midwestern state. From what I can see without having been there, southern Illinois might give Missouri a run for its money. But still, Missouri is the only Midwestern state whose identity is questionable, that had slavery, that might have actually been a Southern state (before the Civil War), and that Southern religious patterns are so strong in the entire state. Missouri is also the Midwestern state with the largest pattern of ancestry that is typical of the South.

Still, I recently went on a week-long trip through much of Arkansas. When I crossed back into Missouri thinks just felt different. While I didn't get much time to really inspect, when I was in Branson I was looking around and thinking "you know, I'm not sure this place is really all that Southern". That thought was despite my otherwise thinking that the bottom two or three tiers of counties in Missouri do feel different from the rest of the state, at least in the southwest. That may simply be geology though. Anyway, I did see Dixie Outfitters and Dixie Stampede and I know there are a few other Southern-type things in Branson, but I just don't know. I was there only a short time, but I didn't here any Southern accents like I did in Arkansas. I did here a Ukrainian accent though. And one place I ate at, a buffet, I asked for sweet tea and the (black, for what it's worth) woman snapped back "we don't have sweet tea", as if my asking was offensive. If you're wondering, that was at the Grand Country Buffet. When I was in Arkansas sweet tea was being ordered left and right and was everywhere.

Now with all of that said, I have a ton of family from southern Missouri and know other families from there too. They all did or have Southern (largely Appalachian) traits. A friend of mine said he knows a guy from West Plains who now lives in Branson with a strong Southern accent. Anyway, I'd like to explorer southern and southeast Missouri more, but as it is I'm just not sure it's as Southern as I was liking to think before or as much as you would like to think. I don't know why though. I've wondered if after the Civil War some of the original Southern culture got washed out, rejected, and if people intentionally distanced themselves from it and began fancying themselves Midwesterners. I think some of the younger generation fancies themselves Midwesterners simply because that's what they're told at school, etc. and just go with it. Not to mention being Southern isn't necessarily cool and is the opposite of what young people of some persuasions want to be, so they may reject it all and not identify as being so even if there families really are Southern. I don't know if it's true, but I suspect that maybe the state line became much more of a divide after the Civil War than it was before. I should also mention Missouri, even southern Missouri, has a lot of Germans. Yes, there's a strong pattern of ancestry typical of the South too, but still.

I should also mention Confederate flags. I saw them regularly in Arkansas, both the Stars and Bars and Battle Flags. In two cases they appeared to be put there by the towns. One was some small town south of Fort Smith along 71 and the other was Hot Springs. The only place I've seen a Confederate flag in Missouri was on somebody's house in Lexington.
Ancestry? Missouri is majority German ancestry in most of its counties. There a decent chunk that identify as English or just American too...that's another discussion though. Missouri's identity isn't that questionable to me. Apart from religion, in which the state is Southern Baptist in the rural areas and Catholic in St. Louis, Kansas City, and the Missouri Rhineland counties and counties along the Mississippi River, the state fits in pretty well with the Lower Midwest. As far as Confederate flags go, I've seen them in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, even Michigan. Mind you, Missouri has a better reason for having them than those states, but still. I will give that far Southern Missouri is Southern, including Southwest Missouri.
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Old 10-19-2014, 03:18 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mrfgsn View Post
St. Louis is culturally, demographically, and linguistically not Southern. And Kansas City historically has a history of being much more Southern than STL ever was. The Southern line for Missouri extends from Cape Girardeau to Springfield to Joplin. The transition zone begins below St. Louis, Jeff City, and Kansas City. Get your facts straight. You wouldn't know Southern if it smacked you in the face.
Pretty much agree as it's been mentioned on here before. South of US 50 is the "transition zone" in Missouri a mix of both cultures, more southern the further south you go of course, and around highway 60 on south is basically southern, except in SE MO around Cape Girardeau is the dividing line with little transition zone between the Midwest and South. It goes from Midwest to mostly southern pretty quickly in Cape unlike the rest of MO where the transition is more subtle. Ste Gen and Perry County are Midwestern though.

Leaving St. Louis county on highway 44 you notice a gradual transition as you drive south with Springfield being literally right on the Mason Dixon line as Brad Pitt once said.

Also Branson and the Table Rock area is southern! I was down there full the first time in years about two weeks before season started so it was mostly locals down there. I heard many southern accents. Granted these are the hickish upper south style accents not the type of southern accents you hear in the deep south like MS, LA, GA.

Also I went to Silver Dollar City on a weekday and a lot of the visitors had southern accents and in the parking lot I paid attention to the license plates and a lot of them were from Missouri.

Anyways most agree on here that 25 percent of Missouri is southern, about another 25 percent is a transition zone like southern IN and southern IL and the other 50 percent is pure Midwestern. So Missouri is about 75 percent Midwestern and 25 percent Southern.

St. Louis county has no southern influence. Jefferson county when you get outside of Arnold which I consider part of STL anyways I do notice some very slight traits begin though as you head south in the county but in St. Francois county is where the transition zone really begins to pick up more though.

Cities like Sikeston, Branson, Caruthersville, Cabool, West Plains, Poplar Bluff, New Madrid, Van Buren are southern.

Cities in the transition zone are Rolla, Nevada Farmington, Lebanon, Bolivar, Marshfield, areas around Lake of the Ozarks like Eldon, etc.

Springfield and Cape Girardeau literally straddle the Mason Dixon line. I would still classify them as southern before Midwestern if I was only give one choice, but both cities still have some Midwest influences in them. But just south of springfield it seems really southern.

As for Joplin, it's a hybrid type city due to it's location. That whole area of far NE OK, far SWMO, and far northwest AR has always felt odd to me like a region of it's own due to it's location. Has an influence from a number of areas.

My Aunt also used to have a house in far Southern Missouri on Bull Shoals lake about 7 miles or so from Arkansas and that area of Missouri IS totally the South. Not Midwestern at all.
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Old 10-19-2014, 08:21 PM
 
Location: SW Missouri
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Originally Posted by cardsneedoffense View Post
Pretty much agree as it's been mentioned on here before. South of US 50 is the "transition zone" in Missouri a mix of both cultures, more southern the further south you go of course, and around highway 60 on south is basically southern, except in SE MO around Cape Girardeau is the dividing line with little transition zone between the Midwest and South. It goes from Midwest to mostly southern pretty quickly in Cape unlike the rest of MO where the transition is more subtle. Ste Gen and Perry County are Midwestern though.

Leaving St. Louis county on highway 44 you notice a gradual transition as you drive south with Springfield being literally right on the Mason Dixon line as Brad Pitt once said.

Also Branson and the Table Rock area is southern! I was down there full the first time in years about two weeks before season started so it was mostly locals down there. I heard many southern accents. Granted these are the hickish upper south style accents not the type of southern accents you hear in the deep south like MS, LA, GA.

Also I went to Silver Dollar City on a weekday and a lot of the visitors had southern accents and in the parking lot I paid attention to the license plates and a lot of them were from Missouri.

My Aunt also used to have a house in far Southern Missouri on Bull Shoals lake about 7 miles or so from Arkansas and that area of Missouri IS totally the South. Not Midwestern at all.
And here I thought you had given up since you moved
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Old 10-20-2014, 12:32 AM
 
Location: Branson, Missouri
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Originally Posted by MOKAN View Post
I'm not familiar with the towns in the south central and southeast part of the state that you've mentioned, so I can't really say. I've heard that far southeast Missouri, meaning the Bootheel, has retained its Southern culture and is distinctly Southern. I believe there were cotton plantations there and that cotton is still grown there. I've heard that Missouri's Bootheel is the northern most area that is sometimes considered the Deep South due to the influence of the Mississippi River and its delta. I've also heard that sweet tea and Southern accents are features of that area. To the best of my knowledge without having been there, I believe that area is probably truly Southern.

Now, with the above said, lately I've been leaning less toward thinking most of the rest of Missouri is anything but a transition zone were Southern and Midwestern culture and traits are blended, much like southern Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. However, I do recognize think Missouri is the most Southern Midwestern state. From what I can see without having been there, southern Illinois might give Missouri a run for its money. But still, Missouri is the only Midwestern state whose identity is questionable, that had slavery, that might have actually been a Southern state (before the Civil War), and that Southern religious patterns are so strong in the entire state. Missouri is also the Midwestern state with the largest pattern of ancestry that is typical of the South.

Still, I recently went on a week-long trip through much of Arkansas. When I crossed back into Missouri thinks just felt different. While I didn't get much time to really inspect, when I was in Branson I was looking around and thinking "you know, I'm not sure this place is really all that Southern". That thought was despite my otherwise thinking that the bottom two or three tiers of counties in Missouri do feel different from the rest of the state, at least in the southwest. That may simply be geology though. Anyway, I did see Dixie Outfitters and Dixie Stampede and I know there are a few other Southern-type things in Branson, but I just don't know. I was there only a short time, but I didn't here any Southern accents like I did in Arkansas. I did here a Ukrainian accent though. And one place I ate at, a buffet, I asked for sweet tea and the (black, for what it's worth) woman snapped back "we don't have sweet tea", as if my asking was offensive. If you're wondering, that was at the Grand Country Buffet. When I was in Arkansas sweet tea was being ordered left and right and was everywhere.

Now with all of that said, I have a ton of family from southern Missouri and know other families from there too. They all did or have Southern (largely Appalachian) traits. A friend of mine said he knows a guy from West Plains who now lives in Branson with a strong Southern accent. Anyway, I'd like to explorer southern and southeast Missouri more, but as it is I'm just not sure it's as Southern as I was liking to think before or as much as you would like to think. I don't know why though. I've wondered if after the Civil War some of the original Southern culture got washed out, rejected, and if people intentionally distanced themselves from it and began fancying themselves Midwesterners. I think some of the younger generation fancies themselves Midwesterners simply because that's what they're told at school, etc. and just go with it. Not to mention being Southern isn't necessarily cool and is the opposite of what young people of some persuasions want to be, so they may reject it all and not identify as being so even if there families really are Southern. I don't know if it's true, but I suspect that maybe the state line became much more of a divide after the Civil War than it was before. I should also mention Missouri, even southern Missouri, has a lot of Germans. Yes, there's a strong pattern of ancestry typical of the South too, but still.

I should also mention Confederate flags. I saw them regularly in Arkansas, both the Stars and Bars and Battle Flags. In two cases they appeared to be put there by the towns. One was some small town south of Fort Smith along 71 and the other was Hot Springs. The only place I've seen a Confederate flag in Missouri was on somebody's house in Lexington.
That is a surprise to me that you didn't hear southern accents while in branson. On any give day around 1/2 of the work force is also made up of Arkansas people as we are a border town. I didn't know there was one place in town where u couldn't get sweet tea. I will have to check that out next time I'm at the grand country buffet.
Having lived in Kansas City for a year I can safely say Branson is a southern city. especially for Missouri standards.
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Old 10-20-2014, 01:15 AM
 
Location: Kansas City, MO
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Originally Posted by mrfgsn View Post
Ancestry? Missouri is majority German ancestry in most of its counties. There a decent chunk that identify as English or just American too...that's another discussion though. Missouri's identity isn't that questionable to me. Apart from religion, in which the state is Southern Baptist in the rural areas and Catholic in St. Louis, Kansas City, and the Missouri Rhineland counties and counties along the Mississippi River, the state fits in pretty well with the Lower Midwest. As far as Confederate flags go, I've seen them in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, even Michigan. Mind you, Missouri has a better reason for having them than those states, but still. I will give that far Southern Missouri is Southern, including Southwest Missouri.
When I said "Missouri is also the Midwestern state with the largest pattern of ancestry that is typical of the South.", I was referring to the large section of Missouri where "American" is the largest reported ancestry by county, which is mostly in the southern part of the state but also includes a cluster of counties in the north central part of the state. Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio also have a few of these counties, but far less than Missouri and none in their northern parts.

Quote:
Originally Posted by imbored198824 View Post
That is a surprise to me that you didn't hear southern accents while in branson. On any give day around 1/2 of the work force is also made up of Arkansas people as we are a border town. I didn't know there was one place in town where u couldn't get sweet tea. I will have to check that out next time I'm at the grand country buffet.
Having lived in Kansas City for a year I can safely say Branson is a southern city. especially for Missouri standards.
I didn't spend much time in Branson at all. I wish I had spent more time, but I was at the end of a week-long trip and tired and not that interested at the time. I don't doubt a lot of people from Arkansas go to Branson for work, shopping, etc., but I was surprised at just how significant of a town Harrison is for its population. Considering that, I bet it intercepts a lot of Arkansas people that otherwise might go to Branson. Unless you have proof, I'm doing half of the work force in Branson is from Arkansas. Despite that, not everybody from Arkansas necessarily has a Southern accent, at least not any more than people in Missouri. And like I said, I wasn't there long. But I know you know some places in Branson don't have sweet tea because when I cross referenced "sweet tea" and "Branson" in Google I saw you posting and complaining about how some place didn't have sweet tea. You said something to the effect "you're in the South, why don't you have sweet tea?". Lol. You have an agenda, I think, which is fine. I was on that kick for a while, but like I said in my above post I'm just not so sure anymore. Part of my thing is I had just toured a large swath of Arkansas and had been as far south as Hope. Coming back to Missouri from that perspective, even being in Branson, I just wasn't feeling it. I don't see the South as a bad thing at all like so many others do. I like the South. So coming from that perspective, I think that probably helps one see and feel what's missing as far as Missouri being Southern. I hope that makes sense.

Sadly I didn't even see downtown Branson and the Landing, just the strip (I guess is what it's called). I don't mind the strip so much. It's touristy and it is what it is, but that pit with back roads behind the strip is nasty. I don't know if they expect development there or what. But if that area is just for back roads for employees, locals, etc. to get around easier, then I think they should try to plant a pine forest or something there. All of that molested, barren earth is ugly.
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Old 10-20-2014, 10:13 AM
 
Location: Branson, Missouri
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Originally Posted by MOKAN View Post
When I said "Missouri is also the Midwestern state with the largest pattern of ancestry that is typical of the South.", I was referring to the large section of Missouri where "American" is the largest reported ancestry by county, which is mostly in the southern part of the state but also includes a cluster of counties in the north central part of the state. Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio also have a few of these counties, but far less than Missouri and none in their northern parts.



I didn't spend much time in Branson at all. I wish I had spent more time, but I was at the end of a week-long trip and tired and not that interested at the time. I don't doubt a lot of people from Arkansas go to Branson for work, shopping, etc., but I was surprised at just how significant of a town Harrison is for its population. Considering that, I bet it intercepts a lot of Arkansas people that otherwise might go to Branson. Unless you have proof, I'm doing half of the work force in Branson is from Arkansas. Despite that, not everybody from Arkansas necessarily has a Southern accent, at least not any more than people in Missouri. And like I said, I wasn't there long. But I know you know some places in Branson don't have sweet tea because when I cross referenced "sweet tea" and "Branson" in Google I saw you posting and complaining about how some place didn't have sweet tea. You said something to the effect "you're in the South, why don't you have sweet tea?". Lol. You have an agenda, I think, which is fine. I was on that kick for a while, but like I said in my above post I'm just not so sure anymore. Part of my thing is I had just toured a large swath of Arkansas and had been as far south as Hope. Coming back to Missouri from that perspective, even being in Branson, I just wasn't feeling it. I don't see the South as a bad thing at all like so many others do. I like the South. So coming from that perspective, I think that probably helps one see and feel what's missing as far as Missouri being Southern. I hope that makes sense.

Sadly I didn't even see downtown Branson and the Landing, just the strip (I guess is what it's called). I don't mind the strip so much. It's touristy and it is what it is, but that pit with back roads behind the strip is nasty. I don't know if they expect development there or what. But if that area is just for back roads for employees, locals, etc. to get around easier, then I think they should try to plant a pine forest or something there. All of that molested, barren earth is ugly.
Harrison is a city of about 12,000 people located 30 minutes from branson. There is no mall in harrison. There is a walmart. So naturally for any shopping outside of walmart people from Harrison drive to Branson to shop. Many from Harrison also work in Branson. Our only local music station in branson are all harrison/Branson stations. On our local country music station they always say "southern and proud of it". No offense to you but I'm pretty sure I would know more about the work force in Branson. I think you have formed your opinion on the basis of eating in one restaurant on the strip...probably filled with tourists from other places. I have family in Missouri and arkansas. Visit Arkansas once a week.
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Old 10-20-2014, 04:22 PM
 
Location: Kansas City, MO
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Originally Posted by imbored198824 View Post
Harrison is a city of about 12,000 people located 30 minutes from branson. There is no mall in harrison. There is a walmart. So naturally for any shopping outside of walmart people from Harrison drive to Branson to shop. Many from Harrison also work in Branson. Our only local music station in branson are all harrison/Branson stations. On our local country music station they always say "southern and proud of it". No offense to you but I'm pretty sure I would know more about the work force in Branson. I think you have formed your opinion on the basis of eating in one restaurant on the strip...probably filled with tourists from other places. I have family in Missouri and arkansas. Visit Arkansas once a week.
I don't doubt people drive to Branson to shop at Branson Landing, Target, and a few other places, but I meant what I said. Harrison has much more commercial for its size than I'm used to seeing. It seems to be a major destination for those that live miles around in all directions. Before going there, I had envisioned Harrison being much smaller and less significant.

Which station(s) do they say "Southern and proud of it"? I'm curious about those kind of details, so I'm going to look it up once you tell me. But even if it is not in Arkansas, it's not terribly surprising that at least one radio station has the opinion that Branson is Southern.

There didn't seem to be many tourists the day I was there. The other people eating there appeared to be locals. There were a lot of employees, at least one of which was not local but Ukrainian. I'm just giving my perspective with the amount of experience I had. Branson is obviously not completely Southern, so just as you see the Southern in it, it's possible that others see the Midwestern. I should remind you I'm not necessarily saying Branson isn't Southern based off my little experience, I'm just giving the perspective I got from my recent trip.

As for the workforce in Branson, it's as ridiculous of you to assert that half of the workforce is from Arkansas by personal experience alone as it would be for me to rule out Branson being Southern based on my little experience, which I was not and am not doing. That sort of information is just hard to gather by personal experience in a place with such a sizeable workforce. If you have stats, I'd be glad to look at them. By the way, I meant to say I doubt* half of the workforce is from Arkansas, not that I'm "doing" half of the workforce from Arkansas.
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