{"id":3159,"date":"2010-01-06T03:00:35","date_gmt":"2010-01-06T08:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/?p=3159"},"modified":"2022-02-11T19:12:18","modified_gmt":"2022-02-12T00:12:18","slug":"an-extreme-definition-of-southern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/an-extreme-definition-of-southern\/","title":{"rendered":"An Extreme Definition of “Southern”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An acquaintance of mine and I once got into a friendly discussion about what should count as a “southern” state within the United States. I thought, well, the list should start at least with the eleven that formed the Confederate States of America at the onset of the Civil War. From there we could talk about cultural affinities and migration patterns to perhaps expand that to border states and to other areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nothing doing, my friend from Mississippi argued. Many of those original Confederate states should be removed from the list entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Virginia<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Yes, Virginia, he proclaimed should be the first one struck from the tally. Virginia? Seriously? The capital of the Confederacy, the home of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, the land of battlefields up one side and down the other? Obviously he only wanted to take a playful swipe at my homeland. Specifically he took aim at the evolving multicultural, multinational nature of Northern Virginia in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cotton<\/a>
Not southern enough?!? They grow COTTON in parts of Virginia!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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No Tolls!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Then came a most audacious and extreme claim, one that I’d never heard before and hardly ever could imagine. “No toll road exists in any truly southern state.<\/i>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now truth be told, a little alcohol may have been involved in this discussion. He didn’t mean it seriously. Mostly. But what an interesting claim to investigate I thought as I tucked that assertion away for future reference. That happened many years ago and it finally crossed my mind again for some unknown reason. Today, however, I actually have the tools to determine even the most remote grain of truth in that outlandish claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Investigation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I started with the list of former Confederate States and consulted the U.S. Department of Transportation\u2019s Federal Highway Administration website. The FHWA maintains a nice set of data related to toll facilities within the United States<\/a>. It also presented my first challenge. How do I define a toll road?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I decided to err on the side of inclusiveness. So I added bridges, tunnels and ferries to the definition. I reasoned that vehicles could use each of these to cover geographic distances. Therefore they would be extensions of the “road” network. Perhaps ferries would present the weakest argument, but we can always regroup on that point later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of the states in the old confederacy featured toll roads even by the most explicit definition. For those, I didn’t even need to consider bridges, tunnels and ferries. These include Virginia, <\/mark>South Carolina, Florida, Texas, Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana. None of these would be truly Southern if a toll road served as the sole indicator. I know, that seems preposterous, but work with me. The others states became a little tougher to categorize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I discovered a website I\u2019d never seen before called Toll Roads News<\/a> (“news on tolls roads, turnpikes toll bridges, toll tunnels & road pricing<\/i>). It provided amazingly valuable information during my quest. I never would have imagined the existence of such a niche publication but it\u2019s highly informative. Nearly every article featured one or more maps! Twelve Mile Circle was thrilled. That, combined with the FHWA, rounded out the picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another site I found was a little less useful but still very interesting: the Global Map of Tolls, Bridges and Tunnels<\/a> from the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association. You’ll need to open Google Earth to use it though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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North Carolina<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The state operates a system of toll ferries providing access to the outer banks, the chain of barrier islands along North Carolina\u2019s Atlantic coast (map<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hatteras-Ocracoke<\/a>
I’ve taken one of those Outer Banks ferries<\/a>!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Even without the ferries, genuine highway tolls are probably coming down the pike in several locations in the near future. The North Carolina Turnpike Authority<\/a> recently broke ground on the Triangle Expressway in Wake and Durham Counties, and expects to complete it in 2011. Others are in the works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verdict: Southern today if ferries are ignored but expected to fall from the list soon.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Arkansas<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There doesn\u2019t appear to be a toll road in existence in Arkansas right now but a couple may be on the horizon. One has been proposed for the motorists traveling to the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport<\/a> (map<\/a>). Another future one might be the Bella Vista Bypass Toll Road but the project is currently stalled due to funding issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"XNA<\/a>
Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Verdict: Southern for now, but its future status remains in question<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tennessee<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tennessee seems to have a complete dearth of toll roads but it does have the Cumberland City Ferry which charges a toll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n