This LA Artist Built 99-Foot Towers Using Only Hand Tools, Then Gave Away His Property and Disappeared

Watts Tower, California

You can see the Watts Towers from blocks away, rising above the houses like some kind of urban jungle gym. They’re made from rebar, concrete, and whatever Simon Rodia could find on the street.

For over 30 years, he climbed these structures daily, adding piece by piece.

This is how they became LA’s most unlikely landmark.

The Italian Immigrant Who Started it All

Sabato Rodia entered the world on February 12, 1879, in tiny Ribottoli, Italy. He left his homeland at 15, sailing to America in 1895 and first making Pennsylvania his home.

In 1921, he bought an odd triangular lot at 1765 E. 107th Street in Watts, Los Angeles.

What followed was a 33-year labor that produced 17 interconnected towers and structures unlike anything else in America.

Sabato Grows Obsessed with His Project

Rodia earned his living with his hands. He laid tile, built structures, cut stone in quarries, and hammered railroad tracks, skills that served him perfectly for his new project.

He moved to Watts with his third wife Carmen. She soon left him, unable to compete with his growing obsession with the towers.

Though Italian by birth, Rodia named his creation “Nuestro Pueblo” – Spanish for “Our Town.” He built everything alone, without machines, scaffolds, bolts, or welding torches.

Creating Art From Discarded Materials

For the towers, Rodia used collected broken glass, seashells, pottery fragments, and ceramic tile pieces others had thrown away.

His towers glitter with fragments from prominent California pottery makers like Malibu Potteries and Batchelder. Bright pieces of Fiesta and Harlequin dishware catch the sun throughout the structures.

Neighborhood children brought him broken treasures. He paid them small amounts, making his solo project a community effort in its own way.

No Blueprints, No Training, No Plans

It all existed only in his mind.

Without formal training, he pioneered thin-shell concrete construction techniques, applying cement over steel and wire mesh to create strong but lightweight forms. This method later became important in modern architecture.

Simple hand tools filled his bucket as he climbed his growing towers. A window-washer’s belt was his only safety equipment while working nearly 100 feet above ground.

Shaping the Towers

Rodia bent salvaged steel rebar into curves and spirals for his framework, and these metal bones gave his towers their distinctive organic shapes.

Wire mesh wrapped around the steel became a skin while layers of hand-packed cement mortar formed the flesh.

He added supporting columns and connecting rings to prevent collapse, a lesson he learned from the 1933 Long Beach earthquake.

His final design mimics natural forms like plant stems and tree trunks. This gives the towers surprising stability despite their slender appearance and shallow 14-inch foundation.

Decades Of Solitary Work

Days at his regular job ended, and Rodia headed straight to his towers. Weekends found him there from dawn until dark. He tore down sections that didn’t satisfy him.

Perfectionism drove him to rebuild until the results matched his vision. Among his creations stand three tall spires, an ornate gazebo, and what he called the “Ship of Marco Polo.”

Each piece reflected his Italian heritage and artistic vision. In 1954, at 76 years old, Rodia declared his work complete. He had given 33 years – nearly half his life – to his masterpiece.

The Mystery Of His Departure

Rodia handed over his property deed to neighbor Louis Sauceda in 1955. Sauceda sold it to Joseph Montoya for $1,000 six months later.

Without warning or explanation, Rodia boarded a bus headed north. He settled near his sister in Martinez, California. He never returned to see his towers again.

No one ever learned why he started building or why he suddenly walked away. Death found Rodia on July 17, 1965, at age 86.

One month later, the Watts neighborhood erupted in riots, but his towers remained untouched.

Saving The Towers From Demolition

Fire destroyed Rodia’s house on July 4, 1956, and only the towers survived the blaze. City officials declared the structures unsafe in 1957.

Demolition orders followed quickly. Fortunately, actor Nicholas King and film editor William Cartwright saw value where others saw only danger.

They bought the property from Montoya for $3,000 in 1959. Artists, critics, and ordinary citizens also rallied to save the towers. The grassroots movement caught national attention and gained powerful momentum.

The Historic Stress Test

Engineer Bud Goldstone stepped forward with a plan to prove the towers’ strength to city officials.

On October 10, 1959, crews applied 10,000 pounds of force against the towers using heavy machinery. The crowd held its breath as tension mounted, and by the end, the towers stood firm.

Not even a crack had appeared.

This forced the city to cancel the demolition order.

Simon Rodia Gets His Very Own Historic Park

The International Conference of Museum Curators had already declared the towers “the paramount work of folk art of the 20th century in the United States” in 1959.

A few years later, Los Angeles named the Watts Towers its fifteenth Historic Cultural Monument in 1963 and received ownership from the Committee for Simon Rodia’s Towers in 1975.

California eventually took control in 1978 and turned it into the Simon Rodia State Historic Park, securing its place in American cultural heritage.

Visiting Watts Towers

The Watts Towers are at 1765 East 107th Street in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Tours run Thursday through Saturday from 10:30 AM to 3:00 PM and Sunday from 12:30 PM to 3:00 PM. You need to join one if you want to see inside the tower.

Adult admission costs $7. Seniors and students pay $3, while children under 12 can enter free with an adult.

The Watts Towers Arts Center operates tours and houses a small museum about Rodia and the towers.

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