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Yes, Kentucky was part of Virginia until 1792 -doing genealogy on your family when they lived here is really interesting, because it has all your family being born in Virginia then living in Kentucky later, but in all actuality they never even moved at all, when you look closer at the records!
So Kentucky has even less claim to being in the Midwest!
Must be why it's also a "Commonwealth" like VA
I reread a lot of this thread and I'm dumber for having done it.
But, yeah, let's ask someone from NYC but lives in Charlotte to give us the rundown on what exactly Kentucky is.
I don't understand the compulsive need on behalf of people to categorize and group everything together in neatly, and/or, arbitrarily compiled lists. I guess it's easier for people's minds to digest that way.
There's cultural spillover between the South and Midwest and Kentucky's geography makes it a perfect candidate to experience both. It's more evident in places closer to the river--Louisville, Newport but...also present in Lexington, too. I'd also say Ashland or Maysville, also. Bowling Green is southernish. Eastern Kentucky is a lot more like Appalachia.
But the overwhelming thought I have is "who cares?"
It's very similar to how I feel when Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky argue over who gets to claim Lincoln.
There was a little sarcasm and a little exaggeration in my post (like point #4 about gator, moss, etc), just a bad attempt I suppose to make a point.
Point #5 you sort of answered with last sentence you made in #6. Northerners moving south and vice versa, Big cities vs. rural you can see the difference. Is geographically the way to measure? Like I said, Kentucky is southern, not like the deep south though. Just my opinion that all.
As far a fauna goes, what I said is accurate. What I see where I live looks more like Kentucky that in the U.P. of Michigan. I'm talking about natural fauna, not what people plant in there yards that aren't native like banana plants. BTW there are people here that do plant and grow banana plants here along lake where I live. I seen it last year at one of my clients homes and was defiantly curious, she said the landscapers would even warranty them.
Kentucky looks much more like were I live than Kentucky looking like the deep south. You can even see what I mean on the map. I live in the zone 6 along lower Lake Michigan, same zone as Kentucky. You can see how varied Michigan is on the map and why I say Kentucky looks closer to where I live than the U.P. where it can be a zone 3.
Yes Kentucky im sure has other plants that will grow that wont where I live but it looks a lot the same. Yes it is colder here but living close to the big lake does take the edge of the deep freezes and heat waves.
There was a little sarcasm and a little exaggeration in my post (like point #4 about gator, moss, etc), just a bad attempt I suppose to make a point.
Point #5 you sort of answered with last sentence you made in #6. Northerners moving south and vice versa, Big cities vs. rural you can see the difference. Is geographically the way to measure? Like I said, Kentucky is southern, not like the deep south though. Just my opinion that all.
As far a fauna goes, what I said is accurate. What I see where I live looks more like Kentucky that in the U.P. of Michigan. I'm talking about natural fauna, not what people plant in there yards that aren't native like banana plants. BTW there are people here that do plant and grow banana plants here along lake where I live. I seen it last year at one of my clients homes and was defiantly curious, she said the landscapers would even warranty them.
Kentucky looks much more like were I live than Kentucky looking like the deep south. You can even see what I mean on the map. I live in the zone 6 along lower Lake Michigan, same zone as Kentucky. You can see how varied Michigan is on the map and why I say Kentucky looks closer to where I live than the U.P. where it can be a zone 3.
Yes Kentucky im sure has other plants that will grow that wont where I live but it looks a lot the same. Yes it is colder here but living close to the big lake does take the edge of the deep freezes and heat waves.
Did you notice most of the lower peninsula isn't actually in the same zone as Kentucky? Just checking because even Louisville is 6b-7a. Not exactly a picture of Michigan.
Let people try and grow magnolias in Michigan and see if they'd survive the winter. Louisville and Newport average about 12 inches of snow PER YEAR and have heat indexes well into the 100s even this month. I lived in Michigan and can tell you nothing in the mitten would be that hot this time of year unless it was a horrible heat wave.
The least snowy area in Michigan still gets like 3x the snowfall of the most snowy area of Kentucky.
Let's also not kid ourselves and claim that there's any semblance of Southern culture in Michigan. Heck, I would be hard pressed to find actual Midwest overtones in most of Kentucky outside of Northern Kentucky. I feel like having tiny areas of the state that identify with the Midwest isn't enough to make Kentucky "Southern lite". Most of the state Southern culturally.
The Deep South doesn't have a monopoly on what is Southern. If that was the case, Nashville wouldn't qualify and neither would Charlotte. Call Kentucky what it is and that is the Upper South.
Kentucky goes both ways. It's bi-regional, I suppose one might say. It can be Southern or it can be Midwestern. I believe what has happened, there were alot of families from Pennsylvania who settled in Kentucky generations ago. Before the Civil War. That's probably where Kentucky is getting that Midwest flavor from. Not that Pennsylvania is Midwestern, but, as the country was moving west, there was a lot of Pennsylvanians that also settled in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, as well as into West Virginia and Kentucky. So it makes sense those states would all be somewhat similar to one another with some folks saying Kentucky is Midwestern and other folks saying Kentucky is Southern. Id almost bet it depends on which state their ancestors came from, Pennsylvania, Virginia, the Carolinas if they identify as Southern or Midwestern. Of course, that's just my opinion. I don't really know a whole lot.
Last edited by Ivory Lee Spurlock; 09-08-2016 at 11:22 PM..
Kentucky goes both ways. It's bi-regional, I suppose one might say. It can be Southern or it can be Midwestern. I believe what has happened, there were alot of families from Pennsylvania who settled in Kentucky generations ago. Before the Civil War. That's probably where Kentucky is getting that Midwest flavor from. Not that Pennsylvania is Midwestern, but, as the country was moving west, there was a lot of Pennsylvanians that also settled in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, as well as into West Virginia and Kentucky. So it makes sense those states would all be somewhat similar to one another with some folks saying Kentucky is Midwestern and other folks saying Kentucky is Southern. Id almost bet it depends on which state their ancestors came from, Pennsylvania, Virginia, the Carolinas if they identify as Southern or Midwestern. Of course, that's just my opinion. I don't really know a whole lot.
Lots came from Maryland, too. And interestingly they identify as Southern more often than not.
That may affect regional identity. I know someone who is of Pennsylvania stock who identifies as Midwestern.
Interesting thought. And of course the region of Kentucky that resembles Pennsylvania the most (NKY) is the most Midwestern culturally. It could be Pittsburgh but also small Illinois River towns or the St. Louis suburbs. Of course it is simply Greater Ohio
But outside of NKY and isolated parts of Louisville, Kentuckians really don't associate with the Midwest and Midwesterners definitely don't associate with Kentucky.
Last edited by EddieOlSkool; 09-09-2016 at 06:50 AM..
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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A lot of people in the Deep South have Pennsylvania roots due to intense prejudice against Scots Irish Presbyterian immigrants in the 1700s. Most came into the USA at Philadelphia since William Penn made his state to have the most religious freedom. Most moved south within a couple of generations and became integrated into Southern culture. Later on they moved west to places like Kentucky. Now there were people mostly of German heritage who came to the Ohio Valley from Pennsylvania and settled the river counties. Generally speaking the most Midwestern parts of Kentucky have people whose ancestors moved directly from Germany and Ireland into urban neighborhoods in Louisville and NKY after the Civil War.
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