*The Deep South (below)
- Physical Geography - Bible Belt - Southern Aristocracy - Dixie - Mississippi River Valley
The Gulf Coast & Florida (click here)
New Orleans (click here)
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The entire Lowland South is characterized by a Humid Subtropical climate. Only the southern tip of Florida has a true Tropical climate.
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Commercial Forests comprise a major primary resource in the Lowland south
and woodlands dominate the natural landscape, covering 1/2 to 2/3 of the
region (much reduced from the pre-Columbian coverage). The South contains 40%
of US forests, and 60% of the country's pulpwood, which is used for paper. This
lumber mill is in Alabama.
Dude Ranches (this one in Alabama) provide an alternative, recreation-oriented use of the forests.
The geology of the Lowland south is composed almost entirely of sedimentary
rock which has been built up by sea cover and river alluvium deposition.
Most of this area has been underwater for much of the earth's history. The sedimentary
rocks dip away from the inland mountains, gradually falling in elevation toward
the coast.
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The Southern Baptist religion is widely followed throughout the Deep South, which is sometimes referred to as the "Bible Belt".
One of the welcome signs on the highway entering Picayune, Mississippi. Picayune
was named after the major daily newspaper in New Orleans -- one of the early
editors of the paper was from this area of Mississippi.
Religion is exhibited in the cultural landscape in many different ways.
Forty-two percent of orthodox Muslims in the US today are Black. Some
belong to the Nation of Islam, founded in 1930 by Elijah Muhammed, and currently
led by the controversial Louis Farrakahn. Elijah Muhammed's son, however, embraced
traditional Sunni Islam, which by some accounts is the fastest growing religion
in the US today.
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The horse stable of the Belle Meade estate.
A freeway visitors center in Alabama reflects the stately architecture of the aristocratic South.
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"American by Birth, Southern by the Grace of God" is what the hat in the lower right corner states. Many in the Deep South are proud of their Confederate history, though this culture has been diluted some by Sunbelt migration from the North in the 1990s. (This gift shop is actually in West Virginia, but it illustrates Dixie sentiments well.)
Winn-Dixie grocery store -- somewhere in Alabama. The term 'Dixie' comes
from before the Civil War and refers to money printed in New Orleans which had
one side in French and one side English. Ten in French is Dix,
and a $10 bill was a "Dixie". (Note that this is one
explanation -- there are competing explanations for the origin of 'Dixie'.)
Nashville, Tennessee (AKA Music City) is the Country Music capital of the US
-- which draws large numbers of tourists, as well. The Opryland,USA amusement
park (which houses the original Grand Ole Oproprylandy) is the largest attraction in
Nashville. Others include: (Conway) Twitty City, House of (Johnny) Cash, Barabara
Mandrell Country, Jim Reeves Museum, Hank Williams Jr. Museum, and the Minnie
Pearl Museum.
Music City Queen River Boat on the Cumberland River in Nashville.
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY
The Mississippi River has the third largest drainage area in the world. The Missouri River, Ohio River, Tennessee River, Arkansas River, Cumberland River and Platte River all drain into the Mississippi. Since 1927, the US Army Corps of Engineers has built 153 major dams and 2,000 miles of levees between St. Paul, Minnesota the point where the Mississippi enters the broad Mississippi River Valley (below).
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The Mississippi River Valley is about 500 miles long and 125 miles wide.
In the 1980s catfish farming replaced soybeans and cotton as the leading
cash crop in this region. Catfish are grown in former soybean fields. They are
grain fed (like pen-fed cows in the Midwest), which makes them sweeter and milder
than wild catfish. The world's largest catfish processing plant is in Indianola,
Mississippi, with some 1200 employees.
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Mississippi River Valley Flood Sequence (1973)
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