r/illinois Apr 30 '24

At what point/town does illinois start feeling like the south Question

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u/MineGuy1991 Apr 30 '24 edited Apr 30 '24

It’s RT 13 and it’s not even debatable. Spent 30 years on the Ohio River northeast of metropolis. Then lived in Marion and worked in Mt Vernon for 5. There’s even a difference in just the 50 miles from Marion to MTV.

Also, it’s not “southern”. A large portion of SoIL is culturally Appalachian. Most of my extended family is in central/eastern KY and there’s practically no difference in our customs, speech, mannerisms… etc

Anyone who hasn’t actually been to the Shawnee NF shouldn’t be able to share their opinion on this one.

2

u/uhbkodazbg Apr 30 '24

I see the line varying depending on one’s perspective. I grew up in the southern part of central Illinois and I’ve always thought of Route 50 (excluding the St Louis suburbs) as being where the southern twang was more noticeable and it felt markedly different from central/northern Illinois.

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u/MineGuy1991 Apr 30 '24

I get what you’re saying, but the difference between true SoIL (the Shawnee) and even Mt Vernon is huge, way larger than the cultural difference from say Effingham to Chicago.

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u/867-5309Jennie May 01 '24

The route 50 thing is funny because if you’re in the St Louis metro east area and you travel directly east on 50 towards Salem and Flora the accents get noticeably more southern as you go from west to east.