In 1964, Robert McCulloch, chairman of McCulloch Oil Corporation, founded a retirement development project on the east shore of Lake Havasu, a large reservoir on the Colorado River in northwestern Arizona, some two hours’ drive from Las Vegas.

The one problem with McCulloch’s plan is that estate agents can’t attract prospective buyers because the land is far from population centres and has a very hot and arid climate.

McCulloch’s estate agent learns that London Bridge, spanning the River Thames in England, is no longer sound enough to support the increased load of modern traffic crossing it every day and is for sale. He convinces McCulloch to buy it and bring it to the Lake Havasu area to attract prospective land buyers.

In 1967, the bridge is dismantled, its facing stones are each numbered and transported to a quarry in Devon in England where some five to nine inches (12 to 22 cm) are sliced off many of the original stones.

The bridge arrives in pieces at the Port of Long Beach, California and is transported overland to Lake Havasu City, where re-assembly begins.  On September 23, 1968 London’s Lord Mayor, Sir Gilbert Inglefield, lays the foundation stone.

Today, London Bridge in Lake Havasu City is a reinforced concrete structure clad in the original masonry of the bridge that once spanned the River Thames in London. 

Reconstruction of London Bridge in Arizona takes over three years and the project is completed in late 1971. The bridge links an island in the Colorado River to the main part of Lake Havasu City.