"Nuestro Pueblo" (meaning "our town")- known as the Watt's Towers.
When Sam Rodia, single creator of the Watt's Towers was asked why he made the towers, he answered "I wanted to do something big and I did it."
Sam (Simon) Rodia was born on February 12th, 1879 in Ribottoli Italy. Rodi's older brother immigrated to the United States in 1895 and settled in Pennsylvania. Rodia followed his brother a few years later. He moved to the west coast and found work in rock quarries and logging and railroad camps as a construction worker.
In 1921, after having lived in Long Beach since 1917, Rodia purchased the triangular shaped lot at 1761 - 1765 107th Street in Los Angeles and began to construct his masterpiece Nuestro Pueblo at night. When Rodia was approaching 75, he deeded his property to a neighbor and retired to Martinez, California to be near his family. On June 17th, 1965 Sam died.
The Watts Towers, consisting of seventeen major sculptures constructed of structural steel and covered with mortar. Then Rodia adorned his towers with numerous pieces of found mosaic, broken glass, sea shells, pottery and tile. Even a rare piece of 19th-century hand painted Canton ware and many pieces of 20th-century American ceramics are found upon his structures.
Now the towers are one of nine folk art sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and were designated a National Historic Landmark.
"The art of recycling at it's grandest. One of my favorite places on earth." - Malka
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