Sex Pit, Alabama

Located on Autauga County Road 86 in Prattville, Alabama, "Sex Pit" forms a portion of Cross Garden, several acres of handmade crosses and biblical warning signs erected over the course of twenty years by local W.C. Rice (1930–2004). Within Cross Garden, old wooden planks and rusted appliances preach “Jesus Saves,” “Repent,” and “In Hell Fire Hot,” cautioning passersby to find Christ and prepare for life after death.

Uzzle photographed a particular area of Cross Garden that captures both its monumental message and humble origins. Fallen telephone poles in the foreground guide the viewer into the pit toward fading signs that sprout from the overgrown red clay. In the background, tall crooked crosses stand on a cliff, recalling the Biblical story of Jesus’s crucifixion on the hillside of Golgotha. Taken on a bright, sunny day, the image also evokes an oppressive southern heat appropriate to Rice’s cautionary messages of fiery doom.