Shepard Bryant is a fisherman who lives in the “Hay Bale House” located on the Black Warrior River.

The smokehouse was built for him out of broken concrete provided by the Hale County Highway Department. The roof is made of salvaged road signs and beams from a local barn. Glass bottles are embedded in the walls and glow when seen from the inside.

The smokehouse was built for Shepard, but subsequently was taken over by Alberta [his wife] and her refrigerators and turned into what she called “a hen house”! Sambo Mockbee called the smokehouse “The Mason’s Bend Ronchamp”. It was built for $40.