Tourists are only just realizing that London Bridge is not actually spanning the River Thames in England – it is sitting in the Arizona desert.
The bizarre relocation of the iconic bridge to Lake Havasu City, Arizona, dates back more than half a century to 1968 when eccentric millionaire Robert McCulloch bought it for an eye-watering $2.46 million – equivalent to around $19 million today.
It is now one of the most famous landmarks in the state. In 2018 alone, it drew a staggering 3.8 million visitors in 2018, beaten only by the Grand Canyon.
The London bridge built in 1831 was put up for sale in 1967 because it was too narrow to cope with increasingly wide modern cars, buses and trucks.
It had also been sinking by around one inch every four years. Its concrete replacement, which still stands today, opened in 1973.
The idea to sell the landmark to an American came from former journalist Ivan Luckin, who was then serving on the body responsible for London’s bridges.
There was also precedent for such a venture.
Newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst had bought several old European buildings and shipped them to his huge estate in the San Simeon, California.
Luckin had a sales brochure printed and then went to find a buyer.
In stepped chainsaw tycoon McCulloch, who was part-way through building a new city next to Lake Havasu and looking to transform his newly-acquired patch of Arizona desert into a booming tourist destination.
He decided that the 140-year-old London Bridge would be the perfect showpiece structure to get people and traffic to the island that he had created by redirecting the Colorado River.
In 1968, the businessman paid around $2.4 million for the bridge’s stones, which weighed more than 30,000 tons.
Also purchased were the bridge’s original ornate lampposts, which had been made from melted-down cannons captured after Britain’s victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.
It took nearly three years to dismantle and re-erect the bridge.
Each stone that was shipped had to be numbered so that it could be accurately re-constructed once in the US.
The stones were put onto a cargo ship that sailed through the Panama Canal to Long Beach, California. They were then taken by truck to Lake Havasu City.
The bridge’s foundation stone in its new destination was laid by Sir Gilbert Inglefield, the Lord Mayor of London, in September 1968.
Amazingly, the bridge was built on dry land, before sand was dug out from underneath to create a mile-long channel that was filled with water.
The project was overseen by British engineer Robert Beresford.
As detailed in 2013 book ‘London Bridge in America’ by Travis Elborough, some of the stones were still pockmarked with shrapnel damage from the Second World War or etched with ancient graffiti.
After a new substructure had been built, the original stones were gradually incorporated into it.
Despite some missteps where stones were put in upside-down or in the wrong order, the completed bridge was the spitting image of the original version back in Britain.
Once the bridge was completed, dynamite was used to fill the new channel beneath it with water from Lake Havasu.
In contrast to the dirty water of the Thames, a streak of clear blue now ran beneath the bridge.
On a sweltering day in October 1971, with temperatures hitting more than 105 degrees, the then-Lord Mayor of London, Sir Peter Stud, was present as the bridge was opened.
A huge parade filled with revelers in fancy dress was there to mark the occasion.
They included a brace of Maid Marians, Puritans, cowboys and some Dickensian chimney sweeps.
To start the festivities, which included a gala dinner with chandeliers and suits of armor, a recording of the chimes of Big Ben was used.
The next day, the visitors from Britain were treated to a parachute display and a trip on a miniature paddle steamer, before renditions of ‘God Save the Queen’ and the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ were played.
In a speech, the Lord Mayor hoped that the bridge would serve as a ‘lasting monument’ to the ‘bonds of friendships and mutual goodwill… between the American and British people’.
The Lord Mayor then helped to release a hot air balloon into the sky. As it rose into the air, the balloon pulled away a piece of fabric that was covering a commemorative plaque.
Then, ‘a cross between a Fourth of July parade and an episode of game show It’s a Knockout’ ensued until sunset, Elborough described in his book.
There were Chemehuevi Native Americans in full battle dress, and Boy Scouts holding flags for each of the US’s 50 states.
There were also bicyclists riding penny-farthings and men dressed as Yeomen of the Guard.
What might have seemed like a gimmick by McCulloch worked.
Within three years of the bridge re-opening, Lake Havasu was welcoming three million visitors a year, many of whom were drawn by the huge chunks of English history at its heart.
Today, the bridge is still a central part of Lake Havasu City, performing its purpose admirably.
Each year, events and festivals are held on and around the bridge, while several hundred bats live in its nooks and crannies.
Some wonder whether or not such a massive undertaking could even take place today.
‘From a logistical, engineering and construction standpoint, it’s entirely possible that it could happen today and in less time than it did back then,’ said Go Lake Havasu Director of Strategic Services Jason Castelucci to Stgeorgeutah.
‘But the marketplace for deconstructed historical monuments – if it even exists today – isn’t where most investors go looking for a good investment. So yes, it could happen today but it would take visionaries like McCullough and Wood to make it happen.’
From a population of just a few hundred in the early 1960s, Lake Havasu City has blossomed into a thriving community of more than 57,000 residents today.
While the Federal Highway Administration has since deemed the bridge ‘functionally obsolete,’ the icon continues to be a major draw for locals and visitors alike.