Watts Towers

This guide to the Watts Towers tells the story of Sabato Rodia, an Italian immigrant tile-setter who spent thirty-three years alone building these spires from scavenged tile, glass, and shells, with no blueprints, scaffolding, or drawings. It follows why he called the towers Nuestro Pueblo, his decision to stop building in 1954 and give the property away the next year, and the city's 1959 decision to test whether the self-taught structure could survive a demolition crew's crane and cable.