Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Picture of the Day - London Bridge

This is the famous London Bridge...not in London, but rather Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Yes, this bridge used to span the Thames River in London, but the developer of Lake Havasu City, Robert P. McCulloch (of McCulloch Chainsaw fame) bought it from the British as they were about to tear it down.

He brought it block-by-block to Arizona in 1968 and rebuilt it just as you see it here. But their is more to the story than just that. Lake Havasu is not a real lake, but rather a wide spot in the Colorado River. And, the bridge crosses a specially-made canal to what is now an island. But, before the bridge, it wasn't an island, but rather a peninsula. The canal was dug to accommodate the bridge.

The folks in London thought the Americans were nuts to buy this old bridge. And there is a persistent story that the Arizona developers were confused and thought they were buying the famous Tower Bridge. I find that one hard to believe. But whatever the case, the bridge did put this former fledgling city on the map and this spot in the desert grew to its present size of over 56,000 people.

The city is famous for its water sports and is a very famous student destination for spring break. Also the snowbirds from up in our neck of the woods also park themselves and their RV's there in winter.

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