The Barrelhouse

The Watts Towers, Towers of Simon Rodia, or Nuestro Pueblo ("our town" in Spanish) are a collection of 17 interconnected sculptural towers, architectural structures, and individual sculptural features and mosaics within the site of the artist's original residential property in Watts, Los Angeles, California, United States. The entire site of towers, structures, sculptures, pavement and walls were designed and built solely by Sabato ("Simon" or "Sam") Rodia (1879 or 1886 to 1965), an Italian immigrant construction worker and tile mason, over a period of 33 years from 1921 to 1954. The tallest of the towers is 99.5 feet (30.3 m). The work is an example of outsider art (or Art Brut) and Italian-American naïve art.The Watts Towers were designated a National Historic Landmark and a California Historical Landmark in 1990. They are also a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, and one of nine folk art sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles. The Watts Towers of Simon Rodia State Historic Park encompasses the Watts Towers site.

Watts is a neighborhood in southern Los Angeles, California. It is located within the South Los Angeles region, bordering the cities of Lynwood, Huntington Park and South Gate to the east and southeast, respectively, and the unincorporated community of Willowbrook to the south. Founded in the late nineteenth century as a ranching community, the arrival of the railroads and the construction of Watts Station saw the rapid development of Watts as an independent city, but in 1926 it was consolidated with Los Angeles. By the 1940s, Watts transformed into a primarily working class African-American neighborhood, but from the 1960s developed a reputation as a low-income, high-crime area, following the Watts riots and the increasing influence of street gangs. Watts has become a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood with a significant African American minority, and remains one of the most impoverished neighborhoods in Los Angeles despite falling crime rates since the 1990s. Notable civic activities by residents of Watts include the "Toys for Watts" toy drive, the Watts Christmas parade, and the "Watts Summer Games" athletic tournament, as well as a local theatre and a dance company, in an effort to improve the neighborhood.Watts is noted internationally for the landmark Watts Towers by Simon Rodia, which are a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument and also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The neighborhood has also been featured or referenced in numerous forms of media, particularly West Coast hip-hop music, and movies and television shows set in Los Angeles.

Locol (also stylized as Loco’l and LocoL) was a restaurant founded by Roy Choi and Daniel Patterson. The name connoted both "local" and "loco". The restaurant aspires to serve healthy alternatives to fast food at affordable prices while benefiting communities and disrupting food deserts. The restaurant's first location was in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. After opening several other locations in California, all closed in 2018. Choi later revived the brand in 2020 as a delivery-only "virtual restaurant".

103rd Street/Watts Towers station is an at-grade light rail station on the A Line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. The station is located alongside the Union Pacific freight railroad's Wilmington Subdivision (the historic route of the Pacific Electric Railway), at its intersection with 103rd Street, after which the station is named, along with the nearby landmark Watts Towers in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.It is adjacent to the Watts Station, which historically served the Watts, Long Beach, and San Pedro lines of the Pacific Electric Railway.

Watts Station is a train station built in 1904 in Watts, Los Angeles, California. It was one of the first buildings in Watts, and for many years, it was a major stop for the Pacific Electric Railway's "Red Car" service between Los Angeles and Long Beach. It was the only structure that remained intact when stores along 103rd Street in Watts were burned in the 1965 Watts Riots. Remaining untouched in the middle of the stretch of street that came to be known as "Charcoal Alley", the station became a symbol of continuity, hope, and renewal for the Watts community. It has since been declared a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Jordan Downs is a 700-unit public housing apartment complex in Watts, Los Angeles, California, next to David Starr Jordan High School. It consists of 103 buildings with townhouse style units ranging from one bedroom to five bedrooms. The complex is owned and managed by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA). The complex is bounded by Grape Street to the west, 97th Street to the north, Alameda Street to the east, and 103rd Street to the south. This large area had been used as a truck farm for years and during the second World War it supplied vegetables for the surrounding communities of Watts, South Gate and Lynwood.

Gonzaque Village is public housing project located in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is operated by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles. It was built in 1942 on 17.6 acres (71,200 m2) of flat land. Its 71 one-story buildings have 182 units housing 437 residents.

Jordan High School, formerly David Starr Jordan High School, is a public comprehensive four-year high school in Los Angeles. Until October 2020, the school was named for David Starr Jordan, the first president of Stanford University (from 1891 to 1913). The school colors are Royal blue and white and the mascot is a bulldog. Some sections of Florence-Graham, an unincorporated neighborhood in Los Angeles County, are jointly zoned to Jordan and John C. Fremont High School. The Gonzaque Village, Imperial Courts, Jordan Downs, and Nickerson Gardens public housing developments of Los Angeles are zoned to Jordan. Jordan is one of a few high schools to have three, unrelated, Olympic gold medalists come from the same high school in Hayes Edward Sanders, Florence Griffith-Joyner and Kevin Young. Sanders, in 1952, became the first African American to win the Olympic Heavyweight Boxing Championship while Griffith-Joyner still holds the current World Record in her respective event. It was in the Los Angeles City High School District until 1961, when it merged into LAUSD.With public input from the local community, the Los Angeles Unified School District school board unanimously voted in October 2020 to officially shorten the name of the school to "Jordan High School" and remove all references to David Starr Jordan.

Imperial Courts is a public housing project located in Watts, Los Angeles, California. It is located at 11541 Croesus Avenue on Imperial Highway, between Grape Street and Mona Boulevard, near the 105 Freeway. The federally subsidized project of 498 units was completed in May 1944. It is operated by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles. The project is predominantly inhabited by persons of African-American and Mexican descent, who in 1991 constituted 88 percent of the population. It is one of the largest housing projects west of the Mississippi.

Rancho Tajauta was a 3,560-acre (14.4 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Los Angeles County, California given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Anastasio Avila. The grant was named for the Gabrielino/Tongva place name of Tajáuta. The grant encompassed present-day Willowbrook and Watts.

Willowbrook/Rosa Parks station (formerly Imperial/Wilmington/Rosa Parks station) is a major transport hub and Los Angeles Metro Rail station that serves the A Line and C Line. The station, located at the intersection of Imperial Highway and Wilmington Avenue in the Willowbrook community of Los Angeles County, is a major transfer point for commuters.As a major transfer station, Willowbrook/Rosa Parks Station also acts as a major bus hub, serving many bus routes operated by Metro and other regional/municipal transit agencies. The station also has park and ride facilities, including 975 parking spaces and 4 bike lockers. To the east of the station is the Metro Rail Operations Center, which is the dispatch hub for all Metro Rail train operators. The station is located in unincorporated Willowbrook, near the Los Angeles community of Watts in the South Los Angeles region. It is directly across the street from the Imperial Courts Housing Project, which is located within the City of Los Angeles. The C Line platform for this station is located in the middle of the I-105 Freeway. The station's official name memorializes Rosa Parks, an African-American civil rights activist. From the Blue (A) Line's opening on July 14, 1990 until the Green (C) Line opened on August 12, 1995 the Blue Line station platform was known as Imperial station while the Green Line station platform was planned to be called Wilmington station and then the station was called Imperial/Wilmington station from the Green Line's opening in 1995 until it was changed to its current name in 2011.

Nickerson Gardens is a 1,066-unit public housing apartment complex at 1590 East 114th Street in Watts, Los Angeles, California. Nickerson Gardens is the largest public housing development west of the Mississippi River and was the first home of many notable people, including Jazz Joy and Roy Global Radio host Roy O’Dell Gray, who, according to Hollywood insiders, is the first cousin of Mary Mary Super Producer Warryn Campbell.