Cross-covered truck returns to view, honoring W.C. Rice's legacy

The red pickup covered in hand-painted crosses was back in public view in Pine Level, and for many in Autauga County it brought William Carlton Rice’s roadside witness back to life. The truck, displayed Saturday at ACE Southern Lumber and Hardware during a community showcase tied to Rice’s legacy, had been out of sight for nearly three decades. Its return reminded longtime locals why the Cross Garden and the man behind it still matter in Prattville and beyond.

Hot Rods & Hardware hosted the gathering from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., with Jerry Rice, Rice’s son, and Earl Irvine, his grandson, presenting the display. Residents gathered at ACE Southern Lumber and Hardware to remember William Carlton Rice as more than the man behind the Cross Garden. He was remembered there as a businessman, mentor and deeply devoted Christian whose roadside displays became part of Autauga County’s identity for generations.

Rice was born Feb. 20, 1930, in Woodstock, Bibb County, and later made his home in Prattville. After what he described as a healing on April 24, 1960, he began building the Cross Garden on three acres near his home along Autauga County Road 86. By the late 1990s, the site had expanded into hundreds of white wooden crosses, some dabbed with red paint, along with stern warning signs, a roadside chapel and the pickup truck that Saturday’s crowd came to see again. Some accounts describe the property as stretching across roughly 11 acres on both sides of the road.

Jerry Rice said his father’s life changed after that 1960 healing, and that transformation drove the crosses, signs and messages about salvation that followed. Irvine said his grandfather would start talking about important things without warning, then offer guidance without judgment, and he described Rice as a hard worker who built several businesses despite leaving school after the eighth grade. Those memories matched the larger history around the Cross Garden, where people from across the region once stopped to talk with Rice, and later visitors came from around the world.

Rice died Jan. 18, 2004, in Prattville, but the site he built continued to draw attention, including a 2011 documentary centered on its meaning after his death. The truck’s return in Pine Level did more than put a relic on display. It brought back a familiar symbol of faith-centered local history that still helps define how Autauga County remembers one of its most unusual and enduring figures.