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),[6] an Italian immigrant construction worker and tile mason, over a period of 33 years from 1921 to 1954.

[13] Among the projects he is known, or claimed, to have worked on are the UC Berkeley campus,[14] the Eastern Star Home[15] and the Bullocks Wilshire building.

[18] The sculptures' armatures are constructed from steel rebar and Rodia's own concoction of a type of concrete, wrapped with wire mesh.

[19] Their structural design and placement near the builder's home are strongly reminiscent of the gigli ("lillies") towers which feature in an annual festival to St. Paulinus in Nola, Italy, with which he was probably familiar.

In 1955, Rodia gave his property to a neighbor and left, reportedly tired of battling with the City of Los Angeles for permits, and because he understood the possible consequences of his aging and being alone.

[23] Rodia's bungalow inside the enclosure burned down as a result of an accident on the Fourth of July 1956,[24] and the City of Los Angeles condemned the structure and ordered it all to be destroyed.

Actor Nicholas King and film editor William Cartwright visited the site in 1959, and purchased the property from Rodia's neighbor for $2,000 in order to preserve it.

King, Cartwright, architects, artists, enthusiasts, academics, and community activists formed the Committee for Simon Rodia's Towers in Watts.

[25] The Committee for Simon Rodia's Towers preserved the site independently until 1975 when, for the purpose of guardianship, they partnered with the City of Los Angeles and then with the State of California in 1978.

[26] Weather and moisture caused pieces of tile and glass to become loose on the towers, which are conserved for reattachment in the ongoing restoration work.

Using simple hand tools, cast off materials (glass, shell, pottery pieces and broken tile) Italian immigrant Simon Rodia spent 30 years building a tribute to his adopted country and a monument to the spirit of individuals who make their dreams tangible.

[31] California-based poet Robert Duncan featured Rodia's Towers in his 1959 poem, "Nel Mezzo del Cammin di Nostra Vita," as an example of democratic art that is free of church/state power structures.

In his book White Sands Geoff Dyer writes about his visit to the Watts Towers in the chapter "The Ballad of Jimmy Garrison".

The short story With Virgil Oddum At The East Pole by an American science fiction writer Harlan Ellison is directly inspired by the Watts Towers and dedicated to the memory of Sabotini Rodia.