Watts - Simon Rodia Towers

Location and history of the building

The tower, named after its builder Simon Rodia, stands in East 107th Street No. 1765, and you can reach it via the Harbor Freeway, exit 14, Gage Avenue.

In 1921 Simon Rodia, an immigrant builder and carpenter from Naples, began to build "his" four towers from cement, steel poles and wire-netting, clad with something like 70,000 mussel-shells and glass, tile and mirror fragments. In 33 years of work he completed four towers, two of which are 112ft/34m high, and represent perhaps the most complete example of folk-art today.

Simon Rodia

Simon Rodia was certainly no trained architect, but - scorning all help - created buildings with an almost Gothic effect, which can best be