Located in south Los Angeles, stands a monument to one man's spirit, ingenuity, and determination. Built single-handedly by Simon Rodia over a period of 33 years, the Watts Towers consists of nine major sculptural forms made of steel and covered with mortar embedded with pieces of ceramic tile, pottery shards, sea shells, and broken glass. The tallest tower is over 30 meters high and contains the longest slender column of reinforced concrete in the world.

Without benefit of special equipment, scaffolding, or drawing board designs, Rodia worked alone on his towers using simple tile-setter's tools and a window washer's belt and buckle. From 1921 to 1954, Rodia surrounded his house with three tall sendor towers; a patio; a gazebo containing a circular bench, 3 bird baths, and a spire over 10 meters tall; and a structure he called the "Ship of Marco Polo" which has another spire just as high. All of this is enclosed in walls build by Rodia and decorated with an assortment of embedded objects and materials.