Watts Towers (Simon Rodia, Designer-Builder) – 1921-1954
Address: 1765 E. 107th Street in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles.
(Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument No. 15)
A colorful lacework of 17 whimsical towers designed by Sabato Simon Rodia in his spare time over a period of 33 years. The towers are a fantasy of found objects Rodia picked up from the nearby railroad tracks and broken pieces of pottery from the Malibu Pottery, where he worked for many years.
Scrap rebar, wrapped with wire mesh, coated with mortar, and imbedded with broken china, scrap metal, pieces of glass and sea shells are among the materials he used. The Italian immigrant called the towers Nuestro Pueblo or ‘our town. The towers were deeded to the State of California in 1978. The property is now designated the Watts Towers of Simon Rodia State Historic Park.
