Lake Havasu City is not a small city with a brilliant location on the shores of Havasu lake, but at the first glance, it seems to be a typical resort town. Besides one thing… This town has a history older than the whole history of the United States starting from the first European colonists! The real London bridge is gemming its downtown and it’s much older than the town itself. Together with an English village, the bridge became the town centerpiece that attracts many visitors all day. Beautiful canal embankments with riverfront dining places, hotels, beaches, and a lot of water recreational activities – all of that make Lake Havasu a very popular destination for vacations in Arizona. London Bridge is actually the second-largest tourist attraction in Arizona that was beaten only by Grand Canyon.
Another landmark that deserves to be explored is 27 lighthouse replicas scattered all over the city on the river banks.
And last but not least Lake Havasu City is heaven for buggy drivers! Endless off-road routes dot the rocky hills surrounding the town. Over 1,800 miles of desert lands are open for exploration whether by foot, off-road vehicle, or mountain bike.
London Bridge
Let me start a little bit with the history of Lake Havasu City itself. It started as an army camp, called “Site Six” during World War II (there’s a boat launch ramp there now). Though the real story of the town started only in 1958 when American businessman Robert P. McCulloch acquired several acres of land and started its reformation. He built an airport lane and rich investors and land buyers started coming, and in 5 years Lake Havasu City was established.
But why and how did the London bridge appear in some small town in Arizona?
History of the original bridge over the Thames River started at the end of the 12th century, i.e. about 750 years before the foundation on Lake Havasu City. That bridge existed for more than 600 years but required constant repair, and at the end of the 18th century, London made a decision to make a replacement. Designed in 1799 by Scottish engineer John Rennie, the new bridge was finished and opened to pedestrians in 1831. Apparently, the new version was not designed for the increasing automobile traffic in the 20th century and by 1924 bridge started to sink at the rate of an inch every eight years. Finally, in 1967 the Common Council of the City of London placed the bridge on the market.
Robert P. McCulloch won the bid next year! He wanted to transform Lake Havasu City into a great tourist destination and he made a bet that an iconic piece of British history would help him with that. Seems his bet succeeded! The bridge was disassembled into blocks and each block was scrupulously numbered. Then all pieces were shipped overseas through the Panama Channel and delivered from California to Arizona by trucks, where it was fully reconstructed in Lake Havasu City. All blocks were put in the exactly same order as they could have been seen from the Thames River. On some blocks, you can still notice those number markings.
Another fun fact is that vintage lamps on the bridge have a french origin. The purchase of the bridge included ornate lampposts which were made in Britain and belonged to the original bridge. But they are actually made by the British army from the melted-down cannons of Napoleon Bonaparte’s army, after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
English Village
English Village was initially built at the foot of London Bridge in England style to extend the old atmosphere. But it wasn’t very competitive and after some years the city realized that it was losing more money than making a profit. Nowadays almost all the original buildings are gone, and new ones are built in a neutral modern style as local owners and residents abandoned the English theme long ago. Only a few remaining ones were repaired and English Village occupies now a very small area with retail stores and gift shops.
The first place that you’ll most likely enter is renovated Visitor Center in the location of the previous City of London Arms Pub.
Though the beautiful entrance gate deserves separate attention as it was a part of Witley Court in Worcester, England. In 1954 house owner put everything on sale and McCulloch bought one of the gates and shipped it also to Lake Havasu City.
Lighthouse replicas
Another point of interest, actually another 27 points of interest in Lake Havasu City are 27 lighthouses. All of them are not real full-size ones, but a really impressive collection of scaled-down lighthouse replicas. When I said ‘not real’ I actually meant only the size – all are actual functioning navigational aids. Only 13 of them can be accessible by land, others can be viewed only from a boat or water tour.
Instead of building the usual small navigational beacons, the Lake Havasu Lighthouse Club decided to honor famous lighthouses across the United States and not only erect another unique attraction in the city but to make night fishing and boating a safe and beautiful experience at the same time.
All of the lighthouses on the west side of Lake Havasu are built to the specifications of famous lighthouses from the West Coast. On the east side, you can see the replicas from the East Coast. And finally, the lighthouses around the island are replicas of lighthouses from the Great Lakes.
The easiest 5 lighthouses to access are on the island, which you can reach by crossing the London Bridge. Then take short gravel branch roads that fit almost all vehicles (not necessarily off-road ones) and enjoy the small guardians of Lake Havasu.
Admission
- Downtown walk. Free admission.
Activities
- Scenic drive
- Cycling
- Bugging
- Sightviewing
- Water activities