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 Alcorn County is a county located in the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,057. Its county seat is Corinth. The county is named in honor of Governor James L. Alcorn. The Corinth ...

, and

McNairy County McNairy County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 26,075. Its county seat is Selmer. McNairy County is located along Tennessee's border with the state of Mississippi. Sheriff Buford ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, along

U.S. Route 45 U.S. Route 45 (US 45) is a major north-south United States highway and a border-to-border route, from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico. A sign at the highway's northern terminus notes the total distance as . US 45 is notable for incorporatin ...

. The State Line Mob was involved in bootlegging, gambling, prostitution, tourist fleecing, robbery, and murder. A few of the members were from

Phenix City, Alabama Phenix City is a city in Lee and Russell counties in the U.S. state of Alabama, and the county seat of Russell County. As of the 2020 Census, the population of the city was 38,817. Phenix City lies immediately west across the Chattahoochee R ...

, having been displaced from that town when

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

was declared by the Governor and the

Alabama National Guard The Alabama National Guard is the National Guard of the U.S State of Alabama, and consists of the Alabama Army National Guard and the Alabama Air National Guard. (The Alabama State Defense Force is the third military unit of the Alabama Military ...

attempted to clean the town up. The organization owned and operated motels, restaurants, and clubs at the Mississippi–Tennessee state line and in the northern portion of Alcorn County, just north of

Corinth, Mississippi Corinth is a city in and the county seat of Alcorn County, Mississippi, Alcorn County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,573 at the 2010 census. Its ZIP codes are 38834 and 38835. It lies on the state line with Tennessee. Histor ...

. These establishments were centers for every form of vice and reaped hundreds of thousands of dollars from sales of illegal moonshine and other contraband products. The State Line Mob gained national attention throughout the 1960s for its ongoing feud with famed McNairy County

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

Buford Pusser Buford Hayse Pusser (December 12, 1937 – August 21, 1974) was the sheriff of McNairy County, Tennessee, from 1964 to 1970, and constable of Adamsville from 1970 to 1972. Pusser is known for his virtual one-man war on moonshining, prostituti ...

. The film '' Walking Tall'' and its sequels were based on Pusser's war against the State Line Mob and other criminal elements.

See also

Further reading