London Bridge

London Bridge stands in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, on the edge of a large desert lake. It is not a river crossing but a road bridge linking the mainland with Pittsburgh Point, once a peninsula now an island. The bridge’s masonry came from the 1830s London Bridge, dismantled when it could no longer carry heavy traffic. Robert P. McCulloch bought the granite blocks and had them shipped across the Atlantic and through the Panama Canal. The stones were sliced down in Devon before being rebuilt on a concrete frame in Arizona. Work finished in 1971 and the bridge was rededicated that October. The bridge was part of McCulloch’s plan to draw buyers to his new desert community. He bought 3,353 acres on the lake shore in 1958 but struggled to attract interest. His agent Robert Plumer suggested importing London Bridge to create a tourist draw. McCulloch at first called the idea absurd, yet he paid £1.02 million for the bridge. The dismantling numbered every stone so it could be rebuilt exactly. A cargo ship sailing empty to California carried the blocks at low cost. Visitors walk the bridge’s granite pavement between low parapets that once spanned the Thames. Below, the Bridgewater Channel Canal lets boats pass between the lake’s arms. On the island side, the English Village once offered a hedge maze and museum in faux-Tudor style. Some buildings remain, though parts were cleared as plans changed. The bridge has appeared in films and TV shows, including a 1972 special with Tom Jones. A nearby convention bureau now promotes the site as a landmark of American ingenuity.