Demographics

A total of 36,815 people lived in Watts's 2.12 square miles, according to the 2000 U.S. censusaveraging 17,346 people per square mile, among the highest population densities in Los Angeles. Population was estimated at 41,028 in 2008. The median age was 21, making Watts the Los Angeles neighborhood with the youngest population. The percentages of residents aged birth to 18 were among the county's highest.

Latinos made up 61.6% of the population, Blacks 37.1%, Whites 0.5%, Asian 0.2%, and others 0.5%. Mexico and El Salvador were the most common places of birth for the 34% of the residents who were born abroad, an average percentage of foreign-born when compared with the city or county as a whole. The percentages of never-married women (45.3) and never-married men (44.7) were among the county's highest. (Watts) serves the community.

Los Angeles County Fire Department Station 16 (Watts) serves the community.

Los Angeles Police Department operates the nearby Southeast Community Police Station.

County, state, federal

The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services operates the South Health Center in Watts.

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

The United States Postal Service Augustus F. Hawkins Post Office is located at 10301 Compton Avenue. 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.

Education

thumb|right|Classroom sketch by Edna Schye of Watts, 1909.

There was a school in Watts from an early date. In 1905 it was reported that "steps have already been taken to enlarge the present school building", and a new building was erected in 1911 at a cost of $30,000. By 1914, however, that structure had become overcrowded, and additional desks were "installed everywhere, in the library, in the halls and in the auditorium." There were 630 pupils and 18 teachers. While work was under way on a new school, the contractor absconded with some of the money and his bondsman was compelled to finish the job. Older students attended Redondo Union High School. Later, Watts was a part of the Compton School District, but in January 1914, a mass meeting was held in Watts to make plans to secede from Compton and build a new high school in Watts, at a cost of about $100,000. By 1925 Watts voters had approved $170,000 in bonds for a new high school, and the town was served by four public grammar schools and one Catholic school. There were seven grade schools.

  • Jordan Senior High School, LAUSD, 2265 East 103rd Street
  • Animo College Prep Academy, Green Dot Public Schools, 2265 East 103rd Street [https://ca.greendot.org/collegeprep/]
  • Thomas Riley High School, LAUSD alternative, 1524 East 103rd Street
  • Alliance Cindy & Bill Simon Technology High School, charter school, 10720 South Wilmington Avenue
  • Verbum Dei High School, private, 11100 South Central Avenue
  • Simon Rodia Continuation School, LAUSD, 2315 East 103rd Street
  • Edwin Markham Middle School, LAUSD, 1650 East 104th Street
  • Ninety-Sixth Street Elementary School, LAUSD, 1471 East 96th Street
  • St. Lawrence of Brindisi Elementary School, 10044 Compton Avenue
  • Weigand Avenue Elementary School, LAUSD, 10401 Weigand Avenue
  • Dorothy V. Johnson Community Day School, LAUSD, 10601 South Grandee Avenue
  • San Miguel Catholic School, private elementary, 2270 East 108th Street
  • Lovelia P. Flournoy Elementary School, LAUSD, 1630 East 111th Street
  • Grape Street Elementary School, LAUSD, 1940 East 111th Street
  • Ritter Elementary School, LAUSD, 11108 Watts Avenue
  • Ninety-Second Street Elementary School, LAUSD, 9211 Grape Street
  • Alain Leroy Locke College Preparatory Academy, Green Dot Public Schools grades 9–12, 325 East 111th Street
  • Compton Avenue Elementary School, 1515 East 104th Street
  • 112th Street Elementary School, E 112th St, Los Angeles, CA 90059

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

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.

Public libraries

A Watts public library was established in 1913, with Maud Walton as the first librarian and Bessie Hunt as the second. In the same year the city received word that its application for construction of a new Carnegie Library had been approved. The cornerstone of the library was laid in January 1914. 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 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 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. James C. Moore, AIA & Associates designed the current Watts Library, which opened on June 29, 1996. Los Angeles Public Library operates the Alma Reaves Woods–Watts Branch.

Community service

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.

Watts Re-Imagined

Watts Re:Imagined 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) 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.

Parks and recreation

The following recreation facilities are within the Watts boundaries:

  • Watts Senior Citizen Center, 1657 East Century Boulevard
  • 109th Street Recreation Center, 1464 East 109th Street. The center, which acts as a Los Angeles Police Department stop-in center, has an auditorium, a lighted baseball diamond, lighted indoor and outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, a lighted football field, an indoor gymnasium with weights, an outdoor gymnasium without weights, a lighted soccer field, and lighted tennis courts. The 109th Street Pool is a seasonal outdoor unheated pool. In June 2008, a group of young men attacked a manager there, forcing the city to close the pool for a short period of time. When it re-opened, police were stationed there. The pool, located between the Nickerson Gardens and Jordan Downs public housing complexes, also lay between two competing gangs in 2008.

Attractions

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.

Watts Station

thumb|Watts Station in 2008.

The Watts station was a train station built in 1904. It is a National Historic Landmark. 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.

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.

Performing arts

Dance

Epifani Dance Company was founded by Lakesha Buchanon in Watts in 2002. 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.

Newspapers

The L.A. Watts Times Weekender Newspaper is an African American newspaper in both print form and online. It was started in 1965 with the motto: "The Voice of Our Community Speaking for Itself." In 2010 the Bakewell family negotiated to purchase the LA Watts Times. Danny Bakewell said, "I am proud and honored that Melanie chose me and my family to continue the great legacy of the Watts Times, its founders and her parents." It had a satellite office in Watts.

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, although in the former, Watts is referenced erroneously as a "city", when in actuality is just a neighborhood within the city of Los Angeles. The neighborhood is also mentioned in the Avalanches' 2016 song "Wildflower", which features the opening lyric: "Jim Keranga of Watts, California, is eating a bowl of ethereal cereal"—a sample from the 1969 film Putney Swope.

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.

Television and film

  • The television series Sanford and Son was set in Watts, and the neighborhood was mentioned prominently by the characters.
  • 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", 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.
  • 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.

Notable people

  • 03 Greedo, rapper
  • P. P. Arnold, singer
  • Bambu, rapper
  • Arna Bontemps, poet and novelist of the Harlem Renaissance
  • Don Cherry, jazz musician
  • Dr. Dre, rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur
  • Robert C. Farrell (born 1936), journalist and member of the Los Angeles City Council, 1974–1991; Watts newspaper publisher
  • Shawn Fonteno (actor)
  • Nipsey Hussle, rapper, activist, and entrepreneur
  • Tyrese Gibson, R&B singer and actor
  • Florence Griffith-Joyner, Olympic track and field gold medalist; raised in the Jordan Downs projects
  • "Sweet Alice" Harris, community organizer; founder and executive director of local youth outreach group Parents of Watts
  • Etta James, singer
  • Glasses Malone, rapper; born in Watts
  • Imarjoe Miller, professional boxer; born in Watts
  • Charles Mingus, jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist; raised largely in the Watts area
  • Walter Mosley, novelist
  • Anthony Ortega jazz saxophonist, Smithsonian Honoree, cousin of Ray Vasquez
  • Jerron "Blind Boy" Paxton, musician, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist
  • Jay Rock, rapper
  • Shorty Rossi, reality television star
  • Sylvester, disco singer
  • Glenn T. Seaborg, chemist, Nobel Prize winner in chemistry
  • Ray Vasquez Singer, Trombonist, Actor, Jordan High School Watts
  • JuJu Watkins, basketball player
  • Barry White, R&B singer, actor, and voice artist
  • The Watts Prophets, hip-hop/jazz and poetry group
  • The Sylvers, family R&B/disco/pop group

Transportation

Watts was situated at a point on a rail line that ran south from Los Angeles (eight miles to the north) to Long Beach and, according to real estate advertisements and publicity releases, was about minutes from the terminal at Sixth and Main Streets. In 1910 it was a transfer point for the Santa Ana, Long Beach and San Pedro lines of the Pacific Electric system. The Watts Station, which is now a National Historic Landmark, Pioneer settler A. E. Ruoff recalled that the electric line was installed about 1902. The point known as Latin Station, just a mile north of Watts station, was called North Watts, and Abila station, 1.5 miles south of Watts, was South Watts In February 1909 the railroad changed its schedule so that Watts travelers would have to take local trains rather than expresses, thereby increasing the length of the ride to Los Angeles from 15 minutes to one hour. In 1912 Watts passengers could get a car into Los Angeles about every three minutes, and those returning from the city "have the choice of riding five different lines of cars, not to mention the Watts locals, namely the Long Beach, Santa Ana, San Pedro, Redondo and Newport lines."

In 1925, there were 800 freight and passenger trains stopping in Watts, and "a great number of wide boulevards" passed through the city.

  • Watts crime map and statistics