Watts, Residential neighborhood in South Los Angeles, United States.
Watts is a neighborhood in South Los Angeles bounded by 103rd Street to the north and Alameda Street on the west. The residential area extends east to the city limits and meets the neighboring cities of Lynwood and Huntington Park.
The settlement began after 1843 as part of a Mexican land grant called Rancho La Tajauta. Railroad access helped the area grow into a separate town before it joined Los Angeles in 1926.
The demographic composition transformed from a ranching settlement to a working-class African American community in the 1940s, and now represents a Hispanic majority population.
The area sits along several main roads including the Century Freeway and major surface streets like Compton Avenue. Visitors can explore on their own or arrange guided tours focusing on public art installations.
Simon Rodia spent over three decades building several tall towers from steel, concrete and salvaged objects that now appear on the National Register of Historic Places. The sculptures rose without scaffolding or welding and were assembled using hand tools.
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