From Pittsburgh To Georgia To Shenandoah, We Asked ‘What Is Appalachia?’ Here’s What You Said

What is Appalachia? This week, we’re re-airing a December 2021 episode that seeks to answer this question, with stories from Mississippi to Pittsburgh.  Appalachia connects mountainous parts of the South, the Midwest, the Rust Belt, even the Northeast. Politically, it encompasses 423 counties across 13 states — West Virginia is the only state entirely inside Appalachia.   That leaves so much room for geographic and cultural variation. This week, we ask people from five Appalachian states if they feel like they’re in Appalachia.   Mississippi Bob Owens, locally known as 'Pop Owens', standing in front of his watermelon stand outside New Houlka, Miss. Pop said he was aware that Mississippi is part of Appalachia, but that no one in the state would consider themselves Appalachian. Caitlin Tan/WVPB Bob Owens is a watermelon farmer outside New Houlka, in the northeastern part of Mississippi. Owens said he was aware that Mississippi is part of Appalachia, but that no one in the state would consider themselves Appalachian.  Shenandoah Valley  In the 1960s, while some localities were clamoring to get into Appalachia, on the eastern edge of the region some lawmakers fought to keep their counties outside the boundaries, including politicians in Roanoke, Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. Appalachian Studies associate professor Emily Satterwhite said explaining to her students why some counties in Virginia are included in Appalachia, but others aren’t is confusing.  Pittsburgh  Appalachia’s largest city is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. When we asked people from that city to tell us if they consider it a part of Appalachia, about half said no.  “I definitely do not feel that I am Appalachian culturally,” said Mark Jovanovich, who grew up just outside Pittsburgh’s city limits in the Woodland Hills area. “Personally, I would consider the city of Pittsburgh is sort of like a mini New York City. I guess we'd probably be lumped in as like a Rust Belt city, which makes enough sense, but definitely not Appalachian culturally.” Writer Brian O’Neill disagrees. He wrote a book called “The Paris of Appalachia: Pittsburgh in the Twenty-First Century.”  What Do You Think? How about you? Do you call yourself an Appalachian? Why or why not? Send an email to [email protected] or Tweet to us @InAppalachia.  Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Amythyst Kiah, Jake Schepps, and Jarett Pigmeat, courtesy of Appalshop and June Appal Recordings and Dinosaur Burps. Roxy Todd is our producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Alex Runyon is our associate producer. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. Zander Aloi also helped produce this episode. Jess Mador, Shepherd Snyder and Liz McCormick contributed to this episode.