Lake Havasu's London Bridge

Above, a view of London Bridge from the lake. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Lake Havasu, Arizona is a haven for water sports enthusiasts. Since I have friends there, I've been there several times. Last month was my most recent visit.

RV Travel has posted an article on the story of London Bridge. I have driven across the bridge many times as I usually stay at Crazy Horse Campgrounds on The Island that the bridge connects to.

Above, a nighttime crossing on London Bridge. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The article begins with:

Lake Havasu City, Ariz., is home to one of the most unusual tourist attractions in America — the London Bridge. Yes, the real London Bridge, the one that was falling down in London and by the mid-1960s needed to be replaced. The bridge was once a huge tourist attraction. But the last few times I have visited, its “English Village” was like a ghost town.

Robert McCulloch, who made chainsaws, bought the bridge in 1968 for $2.46 million and had it shipped to what is now Lake Havasu City—then a dusty outpost along man-made Lake Havasu. After buying 3,353 acres of land along the lake in 1958 for a master retirement community, the government tossed in another 13,000 acres for free if McCulloch would agree to develop it. So he bought the bridge as a promotional gimmick, shipped it over brick by brick from London, then reassembled it over the desert next to his new city. When it was done, he dug a canal beneath it so the bridge could actually cross some water. 

 To read more, go here.