Tom, you mentioned the "upper Midwest" as a region.  I have heard that my
part of the Midwest (Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and sometimes
Kentucky depending on who you talk to) referred to as the "old Midwest."
Why is this?  (I am a transplant from the Mid-Atlantic region  :)  )

You probably heard the area described as the "Old Northwest" because the
following states constituted the Northwest Territories in 1787 _ Ohio,
Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin.

Greg Koos
Bloomington IL