London Bridge in Arizona: The 1968 Sale and Reconstruction

In 1968, the City of London sold the 1831 Rennie London Bridge (not the medieval one, not Tower Bridge) to Robert P. McCulloch, founder of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, for £1.025M ($2.46M).

The Bridge

• Designed by John Rennie; built 1824–31; granite from Dartmoor
• Replaced medieval bridge (600+ years); itself replaced 1973 by modern box-girder
• Deteriorating under 20th-century traffic; widening rejected (heritage)

The Deal

• McCulloch bought sight-unseen (via agent Ivan Luckin)
• Price: £1M + £25K for marketing rights
• Dismantled: 10,276 numbered stones; shipped via Panama Canal to Long Beach
• Trucked 300 mi to Lake Havasu City
• Reconstructed 1968–71 on land peninsula; channel dredged beneath (Bridgewater Channel)
• Cost total: $7M (purchase + transport + rebuild)

Why?

• McCulloch: Tourist magnet for his new desert city (retirees, land sales)
• London: Funded replacement; removed maintenance burden

Result

• Lake Havasu City population: 400 (1968) → 57,000+ (2024)
• Bridge = #2 Arizona attraction (after Grand Canyon); 1M+ visitors/year
• English Village mall, Tudor-style shops beneath
• Original corbels, lamps, plaque preserved

Common Confusion

Many think Tower Bridge (1894, iconic bascules) was sold. It wasn't — still crosses Thames. The sold bridge is plain granite arches; often disappointed tourists expect towers.