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Whats strange to me is that the most culturally Southern parts of the state (Mingo, Boone, McDowell, etc) are the most Democrat which is very non-typical of the South.
Up until the late 60s, the South (the Old Confederacy South) was very solidly Democratic. The Civil Rights laws of the 60s alienated much of the southern Democratic base, which Richard Nixon used to his advantage with his "Southern Strategy" in the presidential campaign of 1968.
During the 70s and 80s, it was common to hear election results announcing that thus-and-so won the Senate in some southern state, and was the first Republican to do so since Reconstruction.
People are saying that the Northern Panhandle is "northern," but this honestly isn't true. I live 45 minutes from Wheeling, in southeast Ohio, and I was just in Wheeling (the largest city in the North Panhandle) a few days ago. Just 2 minutes from downtown on the river, population becomes extremely sparse and terrain becomes very mountainous. And almost everybody I heard or talked to that day had Southern accents. Granted, they were lighter than what I have heard in places such as TN, NC, and southern WV, but they were clearly Southern dialects. My grandpa is from Weirton, in the northernmost part of the panhandle, and even he has a good amount of Southern dialect in his speech. So honestly the North Panhandle, and areas north of US 50 in WV, are certainly still culturally Southern IMO.
I've noticed that in the Charleston area, a lot of the younger people, especially those from middle class families, have less and less of a Southern accent than the older population. Its interesting seeing how its declined from one age group to the next, if you compare retired folks vs people in their 30s-40s vs high school and college age people. With the young generation, there are more Southern accents among those that come from a more blue collar background, though with the older population this plays less of a role. I wonder why that is. Maybe there is a stigma against having a twain perpetuated by liberal Hollywood and the mass media?
I've met a number of people from Mingo County and their accents are the thickest it's also very unique.
Why do alot of people say WV isn't southern? Yes, it broke away from the rest of Virginia and stayed loyal to the Union, but half of West Virginians actually supported the South. Their accents are also of the very strong Appalachian type, which is Upland Southern...if one questions their southernness because they aren't Deep South, then one has to question much of Tennessee, NC and Kentucky. So I personally think at least the majority of the state of WV is solidly southern, so the whole state can be said to be mostly southern.
Actually only two cities voted to succeed from Virginia and join the Union and those two cities were forced to vote to join the union at the guns of union soldiers. Not all but most people in WV get offended if you call them a yankee.
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