Positioned against the urban backdrop of Watts, CA, the Watts Towers stand as a testament to human innovation and creativity. Simon Rodia built the Towers by hand from steel and concrete on his residential lot in the community of Watts. Without the support of welds, rivets, or bolts, and without drafting tools, boards, or tile setting tools, the Towers, numbering 17 in all, vary in size with the tallest reaching close to 100 feet. Rodia constructed the Towers with steel pipes and rods, wrapped them with wire mesh, coated them by hand with mortar, and then imbedded them with materials found in the community such as broken pottery, porcelain, glass, and sea shells. When asked why he built the Towers, Rodia replied: "Why I build it? I can't tell you. Why a man make the pants? Why a man make the shoes?" The Towers were seemingly born out of a human necessity to build and create.
The story of Simon Rodia is equally enigmatic. After moving to America, the Italian-born Rodia settled on the West coast, in Oakland, CA. Having survived the "Great Earthquake" that struck the Bay Area in 1906, he took to drinking and riding the rails, arriving in Watts, CA in 1920 sober. Untrained in drafting or design, he began to fashion the Towers on his residential lot in 1921. Over the course of the next 33 years, while maintaining a full-time job, Rodia completed the Towers. Inexplicably, in 1954, he gave the property to a neighbor and moved to Martinez, CA, never to return. His house, which resided within the complex, burned down in 1957.
Today, the LA City Cultural Affairs Department manages the property and provides diverse cultural enrichment programming through tours, lectures, changing exhibits, and studio workshops for students and teachers. In 1976, artists from the community, including John Outterbridge, then director of the Watts Towers Arts Center, created Los Angeles's first Jazz Festival, the "Simon Rodia Watts Towers Jazz Festival"; there is also an annual Watts Towers Day of the Drum that has been running for 21 years.
Attraction Information
- Hours:
- Friday: 11am to 3pm
- Saturday: 10:30am to 3pm
- Sunday: 12:30pm to 3pm
- Tours run every thirty minutes with the last tour beginning at 3pm
- Admission:
- General Admission: $7
- Seniors and Young Adults (13-17): $3
- Children under 12: Free with an adult
- Contact:
- Location: 1761-1765 East 107th Street, Los Angeles, CA
- Phone: 213-847-4646
- Website: www.wattstowers.us
