I've been wanting to see Simon Rodia's Watts Towers since forever. I had enough free time before my return flight this time that I finally made it there. The towers were closed for repair! Much of the structure was visible from outside the fence, and there was a series of signs describing the history of the towers, so I wasn't disappointed.
Simon Rodia was an immigrant from Naples who lived in several places across the US before moving to Watts in 1921. When he moved to Watts he "wanted to do something big" so he started with walls around his yard before heading upward with the towers. The tallest tower is 99.5 feet high. Everything was built by Rodia by hand. He did not use scaffolding. The towers are held together with mortar, steel rods, and wire mesh. The steel was bent by trains on the nearby railroad tracks. Buttressing was added to make the structures withstand earthquakes.
Rodia finally finished the towers in 1954 when he was 75. Having completed the job he gave the property to his neighbor and moved away. It is believed he never returned. Rodia's house burned down soon after he moved away.
The towers survived a couple of indifferent owners and the Watts Riots. They were damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake and underwent extensive restoration. Now they are the smallest California state park and on the National Register of Historic Places. Because so many different materials were used the structures need constant maintenance, which is why the towers were closed when I was there.
All in all a most wonderful and impressive sight!
Very cool. I like it when people go wacko-creative.
Posted by: Cheryl | 15 September 2009 at 09:20 AM
This wasn't as political but it reminded me of the Garden of Eden.
Posted by: Joe | 15 September 2009 at 08:55 PM
Dementia concretia.
Posted by: Cheryl | 16 September 2009 at 08:40 AM