It took Italian immigrant Simon “Sam” Rodia more than 25 years to build the Watts Towers, starting work on the massive, one-of-a-kind structure in 1921. The city later protested. Rodia had no permits ...

The Watts Towers aren't officially open for their centennial, having been closed for restoration since 2017. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) A hundred years ago, in what was then the semi-rural ...

Over 11 years and 570 episodes, John Rabe and Team Off-Ramp scoured SoCal for the people, places, and ideas whose stories needed to be told, and the show became a love-letter to Los Angeles. Now, John ...

The Watts Towers Arts Center was born out of the resilience of 1960s Black L.A. The Watts Towers Arts Center was founded by artists and educators in the 1960s and has been a beacon of art and culture ...

Highlights from Watts Towers Day of the Drum and Simon Rodia Watts Towers Jazz Festivals. Highlights from the Annual Watts Towers Day of the Drum and Simon Rodia Watts Towers Jazz Festivals. With ...

A hundred years ago, in what was then the semi-rural farming community of Watts, a 40ish-year-old Italian immigrant laborer named Sabato Rodia bought a little home on a dead-end block by the railroad ...