Watts, Los Angeles

Founding

The area now known as Watts is situated on the 1843 Rancho La Tajauta Mexican land grant. As on all ranchos, the principal vocation at that time was grazing and beef production.^[5] There were household settlers in the area as early as 1882,^[6] and in 1904, the population was counted as 65 people; a year later it was 1,651.^[7] C.V. Bartow of Long Beach was noted as one of the founders of Watts.^[8][9]

Naming

In 1904, it was reported that Watts was named after Pasadena businessman Charles H. Watts, who was found dead by suicide in the St. Elmo Hotel, Los Angeles, on August 23 of that year. The Los Angeles Times said: "Watts at one time conducted a livery stable on North Main Street and another at Pasadena and was a man of considerable means. ... Watts station on the Salt Lake road is named after the deceased, and is located on property which he once owned."^[10] The Los Angeles Evening Express said: "Among other property he owned a ranch south of the city through which the Salt Lake railroad passes, and the station of Watts is named for him."^[11]

In 1919, Watts Mayor Z. A. Towne said that the settlement was named after a widow who lived on ten acres which was later occupied by a Pacific Electric power house. She later moved to Arlington, California, Towne said.^[12][13][14]

In 1912 and 1913, a movement was afoot to change the name of Watts because, as one headline writer put it, the residents were tired of the "quips and jests" at the town's expense. One real-estate agent said that prospective clients backed out of a property inspection tour when they found out their streetcar ride would end up in Watts. The name "South Angeles" was proposed.^[15][16] Another plan for a city name change surfaced in 1919, when the city trustees asked for suggestions. Mayor Towne said: "Watts has got a bad reputation in Southern California, somehow or other ... a good many of us felt that the liquor element left a black mark upon the community's name. ... Towns are something like people. They can live up to a good name easier than they can live down a bad name."^[12][13]

Subdivision

A subdivision with the name Watts was platted, possibly by the Golden State Realty Company, between 1903 and 1905, when the settlement had a population of about 150 people.^[17][18] In 1905 lots were being sold by that firm for prices ranging from $100 to $200: The terms were advertised at a dollar as down payment and a dollar a month thereafter, with the company claiming there would be "no interest and no taxes."^[7][18][19] The Watts Lumber Company had a plan of "easy payments" which "enabled those desiring houses in the little settlement to secure their material and to build and occupy their houses at once."^[9]

After 1903, Watts saw the establishment of a newspaper, a general merchandise store, a lumber yard, a grocery store, a millinery, dry goods and confectionery stores, a blacksmithery and bakeries.^[17] The Pacific Coast Laundry Company opened in August 1907, with a payroll promised to be between $750 and $1,000 a month. Laundry deliveries were to be made via the electric railway.^[8]

Cityhood

Watts became a city in 1907, after three petitions objecting to the proposed borders were presented to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Seven ranchers said that they had no intention of subdividing and that all unimproved land should be omitted from the proposed city. Another petition declared that most of the property owners in Watts did not pay taxes inasmuch as they were buying the 25-foot lots for speculation, that the residents were "migratory" and that most of them were transitory "Mexican railroad laborers." A third petition for exemption was submitted by residents of the Palomar stop, who dressed up their plea with quotations ranging from Greek philosophers to Hamlet. Those petitioners announced that they had recently changed the name of their settlement from "Watts Park" because they did not want any affiliation with Watts.^[20]

The City of Watts was approved by voters of the district, and it became a municipality in May 1907, with J. F. Donahue, who was a driver for the Blue Ribbon beer company, as mayor and Frederick J. Rorke as city clerk. There was, however, no money to run the city because it had become incorporated too late to levy and collect any taxes. A proposed business license fee raised so much objection that the Board of Trustees, or the city council, submitted to the people a straw vote (nonbinding) question about allowing liquor to be sold in the city. A majority of the 250 votes did agree that Watts should allow saloons, or bars, and that the municipality should raise money by taxing them.^[8][21] Rorke said:

We have two retail saloons and one wholesale as a result, and an income that more than pays our running expenses. In fact, we have several hundred in the treasury. The voters, who admitted the saloons, looked upon it as a business proposition. While many of them are not really in favor of having them in our midst, the experience was adopted for giving us a working fund. Some of the surplus funds are being used to employ engineers to establish street grades, looking forward to improvements in our thoroughfares in the near future. As an instance of prosperity, there is not a vacant house in Watts, and it is impossible to find one to rent.^[8]

Watts was brought to nationwide attention in 1908 with the New York production of a musical comedy called "Lonesome Town," which was set in an imaginary place called Watts, California, in the year 1902. The endeavor, with music by J.A. Rayne and book by Judson D. Brusie, ran for 88 performances at the Circle Theatre, 1825 Broadway, from January 20 through April 24, 1908. It was produced by the vaudeville team of Kolb and Dill – Clarence Kolb and Max Dill.^{[citation needed]}

In response to the raillery occasioned by the play, a "big advertising excursion" took place on Thursday, May 30, 1912, via a special train of three chartered electric railway cars. The route was scheduled over the Balloon Route by way of Los Angeles, Hollywood, the Soldiers' Home, Ocean Park, Venice, Redondo, Gardena and back to Watts. The object of the excursion was to call attention "to the fact that Watts has been 'born again,' and the name 'Lucky Watts' will be used as much as possible, the idea being to get new ideas into people's heads, so they will get away from the notion that there is any joke about what the people here believe is the most promising suburban community in the county." Some 25,000 pieces of advertising material were distributed.^[22][23] The excursion was repeated in 1913.^[24]

By 1910, Watts had a population of about 2,500, "well improved streets, a fire department, a weekly newspaper" (the Watts Advertiser), and it was completing a $12,000 city hall. It had "the best of public schools, churches of the leading denominations, the principal fraternal orders, a chamber of commerce and a good government league." That year, business enterprises included the California Gold Recovery Company, which manufactured a machine used in mining districts to capture "flour gold,"^[25] which is fine gold floating on a liquid surface. In 1925, Watts had a pump-manufacturing plant, a machine shop, two sash-and-door plants, and a pickle works.^[26] There was a steel plant, McClintic Marshal Company, which covered fifteen acres and employed 180 men. A new California Thorn Cordage factory was set to hire five hundred men. A new 34-room hotel was going up on West Main Street.^[27]

Joining Los Angeles

In a special election on April 2, 1926, Watts residents decided to enter Los Angeles by a vote of 1,338 to 535. It was the heaviest vote ever in Watts, with 1,933 voters at the polls of the 2,513 registered. Thus 23,000 more people were added to Los Angeles when the decision was put into effect on June 1 of that year. Mayor L.A. Edwards of Watts led the fight for consolidation with Los Angeles. Opposed were the Watts Chamber of Commerce, the Farmers and Merchants Bank, the Taxpayers League, the Ku Klux Klan and the Watts Welfare League.^[28] Edwards was re-elected to the outgoing Watts Board of Trustees, the other winners being William Booth, Robert Rhoads and James West.^[29]

Watts did not become predominantly black until the 1940s.^[30] Before then, there were some African American residents, many of whom were Pullman car porters and cooks. Schoolroom photos from 1909 and 1911 show only two or three black faces among the 30 or so children pictured. By 1914, a black realtor, Charles C. Leake, was doing business in the area.^[5] Racially restrictive covenants prevented blacks from living in any other neighborhoods outside of Central Avenue District and Watts.^[31]

World War II brought the Second Great Migration, tens of thousands of African American migrants, mostly from Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and Texas, who left segregated Southern states in search of better opportunities in California. During World War II, the city built several large housing projects (including Jordan Downs and Imperial Courts) for the thousands of new workers in war industries. By the early 1960s, these projects had become nearly 100 percent black, as whites moved on to new suburbs outside the central city. As industrial jobs disappeared from the area, the projects housed many more poor families than they had traditionally.^{[citation needed]} Passenger rail service on the Long Beach Line was shut down in 1961, severing the area's primary transportation link to jobs and services in the greater region.

Longstanding resentment by Los Angeles's working class black community over discriminatory treatment by police and inadequate public services (especially schools and hospitals) exploded on August 11, 1965, into what were commonly known as the Watts riots.^[3] The event that precipitated the disturbances, the arrest of a black youth by the California Highway Patrol on drunk-driving charges, actually occurred outside Watts.

The damage from the riots was particularly severe along the stretch of 103rd Street between Compton and Wilmington Avenues. 103rd Street was the neighborhood's historic commercial center, consisting of a traditional main street lined with storefronts, easily accessible by foot from Watts Station. After suffering extensive arson in the riots, the ruined, burnt-out area was nicknamed "Charcoal Alley".^[32]

An urban renewal plan was drawn up by the redevelopment agency in 1966, with the aim of demolishing all structures between Century Boulevard and 104th Street and redeveloping the area into a modern shopping district.^[33] By 1972, the entire area had been acquired and demolished. Century Boulevard, 103rd Street, Compton Avenue, and Wilmington Avenue were all widened into large arterial roads, and the surrounding plots were gradually redeveloped with suburban-style garden apartments and single family subdivisions of much lower density than the previous and surrounding development.^[34] The modern shopping center, a main promise of the redevelopment program, was not completed until the early 1980's.

This project dramatically altered the urban fabric of Watts, replacing the densely-populated, walkable main street with large surface parking lots and wide roads carrying hazardous high speed traffic. Community activism in response these problems would eventually lead to a "green streets" project to improve pedestrian safety and environmental quality in the area, beginning in 2016.^[35]

Watts suffered further in the 1970s, as gangs gained strength and raised the level of violence in the neighborhood. Between 1989 and 2005, police reported more than 500 homicides in Watts, most of them gang-related and tied to wars over control of the lucrative illicit market created by illegal drugs. Four of Watts's influential gangs – Watts Cirkle City Piru, Grape Street Watts Crips, Bounty Hunter Watts Bloods, and PJ Watts Crips – formed a Peace Treaty agreement, known as the Watts truce on April 26, 1992.^[36] Key hallmarks of the pact continue to influence life in Watts to date, with colors and territory having little to do with gang-related crime.

Beginning in the 1980s, those African Americans who could leave Watts moved to other suburban locations in the Antelope Valley, the Inland Empire, the San Gabriel Valley, Orange County and the San Joaquin Valley. African Americans in Watts have also moved to Southern cities such as Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Birmingham, Memphis, San Antonio and Jackson. ^[37][38] The black population in Watts has been increasingly replaced by other demographic groups, primarily Hispanic immigrants of Mexican and Central American ancestry, as well as by a median proportion of Ethiopian and Indian ancestry. This demographic change accelerated after the 1992 riots.^{[citation needed]}

Neighborhood leaders have begun a strategy to overcome Watts's reputation as a violence-prone and impoverished area. Special promotion has been given to the museums and art galleries in the area surrounding Watts Towers. This sculptural and architectural landmark has attracted many artists and professionals to the area. I Build the Tower, a feature-length documentary film about the Watts Towers and their creator, Simon Rodia, provides a history of Watts from the 1920s to the present and a record of the activities of the Watts Towers Arts Center. Watts is one of several Los Angeles neighborhoods with a high concentration of convicted felons.^[39] In 2000, singer and actor Tyrese Gibson chartered a foundation to build a community center in Watts.

In 2019, the Watts Towers were a gathering place along the 25.5-mile (41.0 km) funeral procession from the memorial for Nipsey Hussle at the Staples Center that wound through the streets of South L.A.^[40] At times, the crowd flooded the street creating gridlock.^[41]

Climate

Local

Watts Neighborhood Council 10221 Compton Avenue, Suite 106A, LA CA 90002.

Los Angeles Fire Department Station 65^[49] (Watts) serves the community.

Los Angeles County Fire Department Station 16^[50] (Watts) serves the community.

Los Angeles Police Department operates the nearby Southeast Community Police Station.^[51]

County, state, federal

The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services operates the South Health Center in Watts.^[52]

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation operates the L.A. Watts Juvenile Parole Center.^[53]

The United States Postal Service Augustus F. Hawkins Post Office is located at 10301 Compton Avenue.^[54] On January 24, 2000, the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate presented a bill to rename the Watts Finance Office as the Hawkins Post Office.^[55]

Schools

Schools within Watts are as follows:^[43][62]

King Drew Magnet High School of Medicine and Science opened in bungalows of Jordan in 1982.^[63] In 1999 it moved to a standalone campus in Willowbrook.^[64]

In May 2013, Wiegand Avenue Elementary School became the first school in California from which a principal was ordered to be removed in response to the state's 2010 "trigger law," which compels the dismissal of a school administrator on petition of a majority of parents. As a result of the pending loss of principal Irma Cobian, 21 of 22 teachers asked for transfer to other schools.^[65]

Public libraries

A Watts public library was established in 1913, with Maud Walton as the first librarian and Bessie Hunt as the second.^[66] In the same year the city received word that its application for construction of a new Carnegie Library had been approved.^[67] The cornerstone of the library was laid in January 1914.^[60] In 1914 the library moved into a newly built Carnegie library. Los Angeles annexed Watts in 1926, so the library became the Watts Branch of the Los Angeles library system. In 1957 voters approved a library branch bond, and a 3,600 square feet (330 m²) Watts Branch opened in 1960. In 1991 the Los Angeles City Council approved a measure, backed by the Friends of the Watts Branch Library, the 15th District Council Office, and the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) of the City of Los Angeles, to build a new library as a part of the 1.3 acres (0.53 ha) Watts Civic Center. $1.3 million from Proposition 1, the branch library facility bond issue of 1989, funded the construction of the new Watts library. On June 25, 1996, the city council voted to name the library after Alma Reaves Woods, a woman in the community who encouraged reading and library usage.^[68] James C. Moore, AIA & Associates designed the current Watts Library, which opened on June 29, 1996.^[69] Los Angeles Public Library operates the Alma Reaves Woods–Watts Branch.^[70]

CicLAvia Tour

On January 22, 2012, the popular cycling event called CicLAvia took place in south L.A.'s Central–Alameda neighborhood to the Watts Towers. Volunteers were excited to hold an event close to the CicLAvia events in downtown L.A. The event was meant to encourage civic engagement. Throughout the group of volunteers the diversity was large. Cyclists took photos for a "crowd-source" map made up of photos and recordings by the cyclists.^[71]

Watts Re-Imagined

Watts Re:Imagined^[72] is a local urban planning initiative led by Grant Housing Economic Development Corps (Grant EDC, a non-profit division of the community-based Grant AME church) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC^[73]) Urban Solutions program. Its mission is to help the community of Watts realize their full potential by promoting economic opportunity, social equity, public health, and an improved quality of life, all while working with community leaders to preserve the identity of the area. It is trying to achieve this goal by implementing different existing plans proposed for the area. The Watts Re:Imagined initiative was formed in response to the dissolution of the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles.^[74]

Watts Towers

The Watts Towers or Towers of Simon Rodia is a collection of 17 interconnected structures, two of which reach heights of over 99 feet (30 m). The Towers were built by Italian immigrant construction worker Sabato ("Sam" or "Simon") Rodia in his spare time over a period of 33 years, from 1921 to 1954. The work is an example of non-traditional vernacular architecture and American Naïve art.^[80][81]

Watts Station

The Watts station was a train station built in 1904. It is a National Historic Landmark.^[82] It has been known as one of the few structures that were untouched by a huge fire along 103rd Street stores during the 1965 Watts riots. When it was found intact, it was a symbol of hope and faith for the Watts community. Being one of the most original buildings that was first constructed in Watts, it was a popular stop for the Pacific Electric Railway's "Red Car" that ran through Los Angeles, CA, to Long Beach, CA, for 50 years. It was also admitted to the NRHP (National Register of Historic Places) four months after the riots.

Watts Christmas Parade

The Watts Christmas parade was created in 1964 by Edna Aliewine before the Watts riots. She put together a group of local volunteers to fundraise and create the parade. Ms. Aliewine started a drill team with neighborhood girls which marched in homemade Santa hats. She died at the age of 90 in her home in Watts on July 5, 2011.^[83][84]

Watts Summer Games

The L.A. Watts Summer Games started in 1968 and were held at Locke High School. The games are a three-day athletic tournament that brings together more than 5,000 students from 200 California schools. Almost 200,000 youth have competed in the games over the past 30 years. The Watts Summer Games have a scholarship program for students who are dedicated to the community and have awarded more than $300,000 since their inception in 1992.^[85][86]

Dance

Epifani Dance Company was founded by Lakesha Buchanon in Watts in 2002.^[87] They compete in year-round SHARP International competitions, where they have won several first-place trophies.

Theater

Located on 107th Street, the Watts Village Theater Company is a multicultural urban company whose mission is to "inspire its community with an appreciation of all cultures." The company was started in 1996 and has been involved in helping the community with educational workshops ever since. The members strive to make a more understanding Watts whose citizens can harmoniously live together in a diverse community.^[88]

Music

Watts, along with several other California areas, is referenced in the hip-hop songs "California Love" by 2Pac featuring Dr. Dre & Roger Troutman, and "Creep N Crawl" by Eazy E.

For five years, the record label Top Dawg Entertainment has hosted a Christmas benefit concert in the Nickerson Gardens Housing Projects. The free concert draws tens of thousands of attendees and includes performances from TDE artists SZA, Kendrick Lamar, and Jay Rock, who was raised in the Nickerson Gardens Housing Projects.^[92][93]

Television and film

• The television series Sanford and Son was set in Watts, and the neighborhood was mentioned prominently by the characters.^[94][95]
• Roy Scheider and Daniel Stern crash a police helicopter into a construction site in Watts in the 1983 movie Blue Thunder.
• The television series Two and a Half Men had an episode called "Weekend in Bangkok with Two Olympic Gymnasts",^[96] which makes reference to Watts in a brief scene. The show also features a restaurant called “Clucky's” located in Watts in the same episode.
• A plot in the film The Big Lebowski involves the embezzlement of a million dollars from a foundation that ensures a college education for youngsters from Watts, the so-called Little Lebowski Urban Achievers.
• The film Menace II Society was filmed at the Jordan Downs public housing project in Watts.
• Charles Burnett's Killer of Sheep was filmed in and is set in Watts in the early 1970s.
• Wassup Rockers was filmed in Watts, and parts were filmed at Locke High School and Gompers Middle School.^[97]
• Portions of the Oscar award-winning movie Training Day were filmed in and around the Imperial Courts public housing project in Watts.
• The television series What's Happening!! and its sequel What's Happening Now!! was set in Watts, where the characters lived.
• The reality television series Pit Boss filmed a Season 1 episode in which Shorty Rossi returns to his community to do a fundraiser for the kids of the Nickerson Gardens public housing project in Watts.
• The episode of Quantum Leap "Black on White on Fire" was set in Watts during the riots in 1965.
• Watts tower is a notable location in the movie Ricochet (1991) with Denzel Washington and John Lithgow.

Video games

• Imperial Courts which is located in Watts, appears in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas where it is parodied as Ganton Courts.
• The neighborhood of Rancho also resembles Watts, as it appears in the video game Grand Theft Auto V.

Public transportation

Watts is currently served by the 103rd Street/Watts Towers station on the LA Metro Rail A Line.

Historically, the neighborhood was served by the Pacific Electric Watts Station and several Pacific Electric lines, including the Watts Line.