80 Things to Love About Alabama: The best roadside sign in America

C’mon, you had to know this one was coming.

Anyone who’s been on I-65 Northbound out of Montgomery, white knuckling from the never-ending construction and bumper-to-bumper semis going 85 miles an hour, has seen the sign in tiny Deatsville, Al.

Perched on the most scenic little hill you could want, with a little waterwheel, lush pastures, still pond, and billowing old growth trees, you spot this truest slice of rural Alabama.

This reminder of the wages of sin is cared-for, maintained, and well-lit day or night.

Erected by Sam Newell, and owned by the Newell family in Prattville, the sign stood sentinel over Alabama’s interstate sinners for decades before Old Scratch had enough of the do-gooders and blew it over in 2016.