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All the United States Arizona Lake Havasu City Lake Havasu's London Bridge
AO Edited

Lake Havasu's London Bridge

This immigrant bridge once spanned the Thames but is now a fixture of an Arizona city.

Lake Havasu City, Arizona

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Jared Steed
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Lake Havasu’s London Bridge   Graeme Maclean on Flickr
Lake Havasu’s London Bridge   Larry and Teddy Page on Flickr
The bridge as it originally stood.   John L. Stoddard on Wikipedia
Entrance sign   Avoiding Regret
  Mathias Van de Velde / Atlas Obscura User
  omonwheels / Atlas Obscura User
View of mainland bridge entrance, with red phone box   Avoiding Regret
Lake Havasu, Arizona   Jason Michael Walker / Atlas Obscura User
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London Bridge   Jason Michael Walker / Atlas Obscura User
  omonwheels / Atlas Obscura User
From English Village, looking towards London Bridge Resort   Avoiding Regret
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About

The classic children's rhyme, "London Bridge is Falling Down," was once all too true. After standing for over a century over the river Thames, the London Bridge that now stands in Lake Havasu, Arizona had begun to sink into the water before it was purchased by the American city. 

By 1967, the old London Bridge, constructed out of reinforced stone masonry, had begun to deteriorate under the stresses of heavy modern traffic. Rather than just demolish the 1830s relic, the city of London decided that they would sell the span to the highest bidder. 

The founder of Lake Havasu City, Robert P. McCullough, caught wind of the sale and saw a great opportunity to put his new community on the map. After bidding over two million dollars for the century-old bridge, it was his. Now he just had to move the whole thing across the globe.

The old London Bridge was carefully dismantled, and each of the stones was numbered. Once it was broken down to its pieces, they were shipped to California through the Panama Canal, and then driven down to Arizona. The bridge was then just as carefully put back together again, and Arizona's own London Bridge was opened in 1971.

Today the immigrant bridge has settled in as part of the Arizona landscape, but it still bears some of the scars of its previous life, such as strafing marks left during World War II.

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Added By

steedjb

Edited By

Avoiding Regret, prestonbannisterus, airandfingers, edithrusso...

  • Avoiding Regret
  • prestonbannisterus
  • airandfingers
  • edithrusso
  • EricGrundhauser
  • Mathias Van de Velde
  • Jason Michael Walker
  • omonwheels

Published

April 17, 2015

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Sources
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Bridge_(Lake_Havasu_City)
  • http://www.golakehavasu.com/about-us/london_bridge1.aspx
  • http://www.citylab.com/design/2013/10/how-original-london-bridge-ended-arizona/7200/
Lake Havasu's London Bridge
London Bridge
McCulloch Blvd N
Lake Havasu City, Arizona, 86403
United States
34.471667, -114.346667
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Lake Havasu Lighthouses

Lake Havasu City, Arizona

miles away

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Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Lake Havasu City

Lake Havasu City

Arizona

Places 2

Nearby Places

Lake Havasu Lighthouses

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miles away

Parker Dam

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Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Lake Havasu City

Lake Havasu City

Arizona

Places 2

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