Despite governmental efforts to tamp down illegal liquor sales in the area leading up to the Prohibition recounted by Historic Columbus, crime in the area did not subside. The Phenix City Story was a success for Allied Artists Pictures, thanks to the extensive national media attention about Pattersons murder, notably the coverage by the Columbus Ledger that would later win a Pulitzer Prize. Lamar Reid met with Si Garrett in a hotel room in Birmingham. He had been shot three times once in the chest, the arm, and in the mouth, the acknowledged death mark for informers. Then, Fuller decides to expand his interest. Heres how to make a hydroponic garden. Hunter Johnson on The Joe Gaither Show: Episode 30, June 30, 2023 Keep reading to find out whats causing those stains on the roof, how to get rid of them and what materials you need to ensure the cleaning goes smoothly. The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories around the world by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, scoring on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). It was now a matter of public record, and the IRS was going to investigate. Fuller had carved out an empire of his own: protection and prostitution with levies so high that there were constant complaints from the gamblers about the exorbitant fees. Phenix City was known as Sin City.. In a Citizen of East Alabama reprint of selections from the book The History of Opelika and Her Agricultural Tributary Territory, originally written in the late 1800s by Rev. These decadent activities finally met its course through the murder of one stalwart citizen, who looked to take down the corrupt . NGAUS states Albert Patterson, a well-known lawyer in the area left his firm in 1954 to run for Attorney General, pledging reform. Phenix City police . In the early morning hours of January 9, 1952, Hugh Bentleys home was bombed with his wife, son, and nephew inside asleep. Everywhere you looked, there was Hugh Bentley and Hugh Britton attacking city government and county government, Mayor Homer Cobb and the City Commission, and Elmer Reese. His plan to reform the state's corruption was supposed to begin in the town of Phenix City, where gamblers and killers run rampant; Rhett Review by RetroHound 12 Based on a true story, but departing from the truth in some places, The Phenix City Story tells of Phenix City, Alabama, where gambling and organized crime run the city. Patterson handed Wallace his only gubernatorial defeat in 1958. ), gambling (casinos, betting shops, etc. Former Alabama Governor John Patterson died Friday at his Tallapoosa County home. Now, it seemed that opportunity had come. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Continue with Recommended Cookies, By This was a problem for Attorney General Si Garrett if they werent able buy the election, they had to steal it. They decided that day to try and get someone a seat on the City Commission to change what was happening in their town. 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Faga, from Central Phenix-City is the Tide's second defensive lineman in the class and possesses strong fundamentals to build off of. In 1950, Albert Patterson was one of the first members. In 1955, Allied Arts produced the film The Phenix City Story, which was a wildly exaggerated treatment of the Patterson murder and the surrounding corruption. From the era of Prohibition in the 1920s through the early 1950s, organized crime bosses bribed local and state law enforcement to ignore Phenix Citys public intoxication, gambling, and prostitution. TalkAbout Two Way T-482 Radios Contest Entry! Mark A. Crosswhite may be forced to resign or retire. This bombing bred a new kind of terror in Phenix City. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Audio CD. straighten the town out. What? Hoyt Shepherd had seen to that. They formed the Russell Betterment Association (RBA). Next week: There is triumph at the end of this journey and a brighter future for our neighbor and regional partner, Phenix City. Garrett told them about his background, his familys background, and he reminded them of his powers as attorney general that he could dissolve the Grand Jury if he so chose. They are only separated by a bridge and the Chattahoochee River. and Russell County Sheriff Ralph Matthews. She charged him with cruelty, he charged her with drunkenness. A heated and lengthy trial went on for some time. The Architectural Styles of Our Town: Columbus, GA by Historic Columbus is licensed under ACreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. When the ballots were counted the night of the run-off, Patterson won again by a very slim margin 874 out of 400,000 votes cast. By the 1950s, Phenix City was home to the Dixie Mafia, and crime and corruption ruled over the little riverfront city. Only Fuller would be convicted, however. Must-Read: "Wicked Phenix City" by Faith Serafin Everywhere you looked, there was Hugh Bentley and Hugh Britton attacking city government and county government, Mayor Homer Cobb and the City Commission, and Elmer Reese. The gamblers were willing to pay plenty for protection so that they could continue operating in back rooms with hidden equipment, and the girls were even easier than that. Steve Flowers. The entire state was embarrassed by the Phenix City story. The Alabama Poarch Creek Indians have flourished for the last 15 years with a monopoly on electronic bingo. They formed the Russell Betterment Association (RBA). Active mostly in the 1950s and 1960s, the Dixie Mafia is more accurately understood as several different Dixie mafias, spread across the Gulf Coast from Texas to Florida. There is a valuable lesson in the story behind Phenix City, for, as Mr. Perry points out, what happened there can easily happen in Port Angeles, Washington, or Galesburg, Illinois, or Fergus Falls, Minnesota, or any other peaceful, decent American town. @media(min-width:0px){#div-gpt-ad-southalabamian_com-box-4-0-asloaded{max-width:300px!important;max-height:250px!important;}}if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'southalabamian_com-box-4','ezslot_2',109,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-southalabamian_com-box-4-0'); Around the late 1990s, Macon and Greene counties voters passed up-front Constitutional amendments that allowed for a new invention called electronic bingo. Later that day, Si Garrett and Russell County Solicitor Arch Ferrell went to Lamars office with a proposition that they werent going to need as many votes instead of 2,000 it would be more like 700. They own the public of For the first time, the gambling community realized that with Albert Patterson guiding the group, a serious assault was about to be made on their activities and it was time to stop it before any real damage was done. (Select all that apply. ), or drug use (alcohol, marijuana, etc. Take, First, the gambling machine gets Russell Countys two State Representatives Jabe Brassell and Ben Cole to introduce legislation declaring the five-man commission created in 1947 as unconstitutional and request a return to the three-man commission (who would be gambler-friendly). PO Box 5312 It was an archaic paper ballot lottery that would have prohibited any private tax paying Alabama operations from competing with the Poarch Creek monopoly on electronic bingo. For Hoyt Shepherd, it was time to get busy and get a man to replace Homer Cobb as Mayor in order to keep his political machine running the way he wanted. Three days later the Phenix City Mafia gunned him down, openly assassinating the newly elected Attorney General of Alabama. On Tuesday, June 8th, the bureau chief of the Associated Press in Birmingham received a call to check the tally totals for Jefferson County. Harris was elected Mayor. Required fields are marked *. Our border city became the poor mans Las Vegas and Guadalajara, Mexico rolled into one. It was around the 1940s, much like in the biblical story of Sodom, a high-powered local official threatened to destroy the city, some sources say. The film, which takes a number of liberties with the actual events and characters, opened on July 19, 1955, with simultaneous premieres in Phenix City, Columbus, Georgia, and Chicago, Illinois. In addition to all of the precinct workers, Hoyt Shepherd had gathered all of his friends around that night his brother, Grady, his partner, Jimmie Matthews, and his old mentor, Clyde Yarborough. August 07, 2019. Again, because bootlegging This site offers articles on Alabama's people, events, sports, art, literature, industry, government, plant and animal life, agriculture, recreation, and so much more. Phenix City, many of those same criminals from east Alabama simply moved west across Particularly along the Gulf Coast, in cities like Gulfport and Biloxi, gambling and drinking dens sprang up like kudzu, right next to hotels and local harbors (hotspots for raids by federal authorities). By 1949, traffic in illegal liquor had also become such a bustling trade that not only liquor runners, but private citizens set on saving a dollar a bottle in bonded liquor, were hauling it over the bridge from Phenix City by the carload. [12] The US Secretary of State for War Henry L. Stimson called Phenix "the wickedest city in America" and Major General George Patton, who was stationed at Fort Benning, proposed using his tanks to raze the city to the ground. Keep reading to find out whats causing those stains on the roof, how to get rid of them and what materials you need to ensure the cleaning goes smoothly. Gov. Site design by Tabbed Creative. Lamar Reid knew Si Garrett would not be too pleased with the results for his declared and open support of Lee Porter had been strenuous, but he was sure Si Garrett would be pleased to finally get the results. The Phenix City Story - Letterboxd Before mailing it, the letter dropped from his pocket and was found by some of the criminals in Phenix City. The girls he hired were tattooed, with an identification number like a thoroughbred horse, inside the lower lip, so that if they tried to run away, or if anyone tried to hire them away, the tattoo would prove they were one of Franks.. What can we say? He served 16 years in the state legislature. Patterson won the statewide race due to his stance. Phenix City, Serafin writes, things got so bad that after the bloody assassination The Choctaw Indian gambling syndicate was Rileys largest campaign contributor. Hes a central figure in Phenix City and Alabama history. If you aren't already a member, we hope you will join us! But John Patterson is attacked on his first night back in Phenix City and must fight to defend himself while the police watch and do nothing. No, its not Chicago or Jersey City were talking about this time, butAlabama? The Plot: Ripped from the headlines, "The Phenix City Story" covers the true story of Phenix City, Alabama and the takedown of its corruption. As Taylor stopped for a traffic light a block from the Russell County Courthouse, three shots rang out. Of course, once the girls started to work, they had to pay their dues for protection to insure themselves against arrest for prostitution. When Hugh wouldnt bend to the bribe of becoming Mayor, Hoyt Shepherd did the unexpected he cashed in his chips and turned in $250,000 worth of gambling equipment and announced that he and his partner, Jimmie Matthews, were finished with gambling forever. Arriving at his fathers house bruised and bloodied, the younger Patterson urges his father to clean up the town. Although the film doesnt allude to the then-brewing struggle for civil rights, the Pattersonss relationship with the Wards seems to imply that the Pattersons were allies of the local African American community. the Silver Slipper, the Hi-Lo Club, the Blue Goose, and the granddaddy of them Despite the unflattering depiction of its setting, it proved popular with Alabama audiences appalled but fascinated by the scandals saturation coverage in the local press, and unaccustomed to films being shot in their home state. #437) The Phenix City Story (1955) - The Horse's Head The story of Phenix City corruption - South Alabamian Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. On June 4, 1954, Si Garrett set out to see Lamar Reid, the 28-year-old brand new chairman of the Jefferson County Democratic Executive Committee in Birmingham. Hoyt then walks to Fates table and asks him to follow him to the dice room. State Line Mob - Wikipedia Incorporated in 1883 as Brownville, it was renamed in 1889 for the old Phoenix Mills in Columbus. The Phenix City Story - Wikipedia For what he had done, Albert Patterson was removed from the reserved list to the endangered list and systematically stripped of every public office he held on the School Board, the Draft Board, and even as a deacon of his church. For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions Called the Dixie Mafia, theyre the mob you never knew. He drove to Montgomery that morning to help his friend. She ran out into the street and disappeared. Well, they got it in Phenix City. Columbus, Georgia 31906. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. The State Line Mob was an association of criminal elements that operated in the 1950s and 1960s at the Mississippi-Tennessee state line in Alcorn County, Mississippi, and McNairy County, Tennessee, along U.S. Route 45.The State Line Mob was involved in bootlegging, gambling, prostitution, tourist fleecing, robbery, and murder. all, the BAMA Club, local capos (of Mississippi? Cliff Entrekins Fish Camp down by the river served dinner downstairs and sex upstairs, and Frank Gullatts Blue Bonnet Caf. for instance, Faith Serafins account of southeast Alabama, in her book Wicked Phenix City. Trends Analytics. While violence was somewhat less prevalent here than in Alabama, it wasnt until a sheriffs raid on a lavish party in Jacksonattended by none other than Paul B. Johnson, the Governor of Mississippi itselfthat the river of vice began to slow. The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer is the fourth-oldest newspaper in the state, behind the Augusta Chronicle, the Milledgeville Union-Recorder, and the Macon Telegraph, and has covered news for the people of Columbus, southwest Georgia, and east Alabama since 1828. Hollywood censors prohibited script writers Daniel Mainwaring and Crane Wilbur from mentioning prostitution and venereal disease, so they instead emphasized the public menace of gambling and the brutal methods used by mob bosses to enforce their interests. counties, towns, and (sometimes) families too much. Elizabeth B. Walden Learn how your comment data is processed. Your email address will not be published. The decision to back Otis Taff seemed like a good one, but with this fateful decision, a chain of escalating events began, followed by a series of significant murders that each contributed to the destiny of Phenix City, and brought it to its ultimate tragedy. Phenix City holds a controversial history. For the first time, the gambling community realized that with Albert Patterson guiding the group, a serious assault was about to be made on their activities and it was time to stop it before any real damage was done. Crime Map. Hoyt hands the 19-year-old hostess, Jeannette Mercer, a $20 bill to leave the high dice room. Gordon Persons, with only six months left in office as governor, was acutely aware of the powerful passions and potential powder keg in Phenix City - the shooting, killing, and retaliation that was likely to occur as a result of this shocking slaying of the attorney general-elect.