- Simon (Sabato) Rodia
Yikes! The month of February has almost come and gone and I have not been very diligent about keeping up with my blog posts. Not for lack of wanting however. House guests and a very potent and lingering illness knocked me out for a few weeks. Only now, am I slowly recovering and so perhaps here is my only post for the month of February. Anyway, before I was confined to bed-rest, I took a drive to Watts in south central Los Angeles (remember the Watts riots in 1965) in search of something quite incredible.
The Watts Towers was started in 1921 by an Italian immigrant, Simon (Sabato) Rodia. Rodia was born in 1879 in the Campania region of Southern Italy. Around the age of twelve, he was sent to America to join his older brothers.
Once in America, lacking any formal education, he labored in the coal mines in Pennsylvania. Sensing not much of a future there, he made his way west to San Francisco. During this time he married and had two sons. His family life however, was not a healthy one. He often left his family for days, leaving them to their own resources. Between 1910 and 1918 his activities and whereabouts are completely unknown having left his family once again. (His wife apparently remarried during this time).
He eventually resurfaced in Los Angeles working in construction. Having abandoned his family, he was determined to do something redeeming with his life....
At the beginning of the Second World War, Rodia's Japanese neighbors were sent to internment camps. Their land was bought up for cheap housing for labor and local defense industries - changing forever, the ethnic make up of the neighborhood. Rodia, who also lived on this property continued his work on the monument until 1954. At the age of 75, he fell off one of the towers, injured his hip and decided then to stop work. He signed the deed of the property over to his neighbor - never to return to the monument again. He had finally fulfilled his mission. He passed away in 1965 and a memorial was held at the Watts Towers. His two estranged sons were in attendance. Three weeks later the Watts riots broke out just a few blocks away - the Watts Towers were never touched.
Although Rodia claimed that he was never quite sure what he was building, the Towers from the east very clearly seem to form the masts of a boat. And with the boat facing due east - it points towards his original homeland of Italy.
The Watts Towers are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They are also a National Historic Landmark and a State of California Historic Monument.
The Watts Towers are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They are also a National Historic Landmark and a State of California Historic Monument.
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