Earlier this year I achieved a goal – I finally saw Watts Towers. Ever since I was a kid in the ‘60’s I’ve wanted to see it. I’ve driven up and down California more times than I could possibly recount but never took the side road/freeway to see it. It’s not terribly out of the way from places and people I normally visit in California but just far enough so that every time I was remotely near it I’d think, “Not this time but next time, for sure.” ‘Next time’ was finally this past summer.
Ever since I first heard about it, I was enchanted by the very thought of it. So, you’re telling me a man built this wild and crazy looking…. thing? No rhyme or reason to it, but just to do it? I loved the idea of anyone who would create art out in public view just because he wanted to. Not only do I appreciate the creativity, the beauty and the ingenuity of it, I appreciate the spunk! What a bold thing to do.
I was so excited as I drove down the tiny, narrow street that the towers are on and saw them climbing into the sky.

Okay, that’s just a taste! I’ll show more of my pictures at the end but first I’d like you to see the signs that are on display around the towers. That way you can get a sense of the history right from the source (you can click on each picture to get a better, more close-up view).

Surprisingly, amid all that info, there’s nothing in there (that I could find, anyway) that states how tall they are. The tallest tower is just shy of 100 feet/30.5 meters. And now, finally, here are the towers.

I did have a bit of disappointment in that the towers are currently fenced off for repair. I had hoped to walk through the structures. I took a number of the pictures by sticking my camera lens through the fence. Also, it prevented me from getting a long view of the towers. Well, at least a long, nice-looking view. But, I have to say I’m glad they’re being repaired and taken care of.

One last little fun tidbit of information is that the man who built the towers, Simon Rodia, is one of the people on the album cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. He’s in the upper right hand corner, right behind and to the left of Bob Dylan. I think it’s a fitting (and very cool!) tribute to the man.