did you know that arizona is home to the famous london bridge yes the legendary bridge that is
immortalized through nursery rhymes built in the mid-1800s and used to cross the river thames
in england's capital over 5 400 miles away from the continental united states it now resides in
the mojave desert at lake havasu which should certainly leave you wondering how did the london
bridge end up in the american southwest well the story behind this old bridge is one that is both
strange and fascinating involving many unexpected factors today we discover how the original london
bridge ended up in arizona i'm your host ryan socash and you're watching it's history
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throughout human history the london bridge in its various iterations have always been engineering
marvels of their time in fact for nearly the past two thousand years there has always been a bridge
crossing the river thames in london the city of london itself was actually founded in 47 a.d
after the romans invaded the british isles back then the city was referred to by a slightly
different name and was the capital of the roman territory called britannia and it was the romans
who built the first bridges to cross the river thames constructing many bridges out of wood and
it probably comes as no surprise that despite being made of wood roman engineering proved to
be ahead of its time yet again as these bridges would remain standing for nearly a millennium
the early versions of the london bridge wouldn't actually come down until about 10 14 a.d during
the norwegian military ventures into britain under king olaf ii one particular campaign involved the
sea based invasion and unfortunately the wooden bridges left by the romans got caught in the
crossfire and were destroyed so over the many decades to follow seven wooden replacements were
built but without roman engineering expertise so they did not survive it wasn't until 1176 when the
famous architect and priest peter of cold church built the famous stone london bridge which would
stand strong for over 600 years and would go on to characterize london throughout the middle ages
this was also when the london bridge would become an important part of the city's cultural heritage
as well as english cultural identity both of which came to manifest themselves during this
time period in fact this iteration of the london bridge is what the famous children's nursery rhyme
is referring to the medieval london bridge was obviously used to cross people and goods over
the thames but this massive stone structure also had many other features such as water wheels homes
and other buildings one rather gruesome use of the bridge was to act as a display case for slain
enemies of england in an effort to discourage any acts of rebellion or anti-government activity
throughout the middle ages many severed heads of english enemies of the state such as william
wallace sir thomas moore and countless others were exhibited on the london bridge
for the crossing public to see and behold as the 1700s came to a close the medieval london bridge
fell into severe disrepair and was in desperate need of replacement after centuries of upgrades
could only do so much in 1799 john rennie a scottish engineer designed a plan for a
new version of the bridge built of granite by the 1820s his plan was approved and construction was
underway but unfortunately rennie had passed away before he could witness his ideas come to fruition
by 1831 the new structure was finished and the london bridge was up and running again well not
nearly as glamorous or versatile as the previous versions this 1 000 foot long bridge did the job
it was tasked to accomplish it also proved to be a strong enough design standing for over 130
years and even surviving the german aerial bombings during the london blitz in world
war ii this version of the london bridge is also the one that would eventually end up in arizona
despite surviving almost a century and a half of people and horses crossing it not to mention the
stereotypical damp and rainy british weather or even the german bombs john rainey's london bridge
finally met its match in the 1960s in the form of the automobile and constant car traffic the
unforeseen weight of cars and the overwhelming traffic had taken a heavy toll on the london
bridge and by the 1960s it had been discovered that the bridge was sinking into the river
by nearly an inch each year in fact the east side of the bridge was already three or four inches
lower than the west side much like the medieval iteration of the bridge before it it was concluded
that the problems were too large to be fixed by renovation therefore an entirely new bridge needed
to be built one that could withstand thousands of cars crossing it every day and what would
happen to the old bridge is simply unprecedented well it was initially meant to be scrapped ivan
luckin who was a city councilor in london came up with the idea of possibly selling the bridge to an
american buyer and by 1968 he traveled to the u.s to meet with some potentially interested parties
naturally most american businessmen were caught off guard and even somewhat suspicious of
lucken's offer but to the eccentric tycoon robert mccauley the idea was perfect mcculloch was an
industrialist from missouri who built his fortune worth millions of dollars on several oil and motor
companies he was also an innovative inventor who operated mostly out of arizona after moving his
business there like many men throughout history who were creative enough to build business empires
like this mcculloch was known for being sort of a silly and unpredictable character aside from his
extremely successful companies he enjoyed pursuing other rather strange or unconventional
business ventures for example right before he encountered the offered by the london bridge
he was considering a project to build a small town from the ground up in arizona alongside lake
havasu an artificial lake which was the result of a dam located on the colorado river macaulay's
lake havasu city was meant to be a unique and peculiar tourist attraction and resort but sadly
attendance was initially very low so in steps with ivan lucken and his seemingly larger-than-life
proposition a solution was discovered mcculloch's business partner c.v wood who was famous for
designing disneyland got in contact with lucken and long story short amazingly the two then agreed
to buy the bridge and bring it to lake havasu city as they knew a novelty attraction like this could
definitely entice more guests to visit well the london bridge was seemingly what mcculloch
needed to breathe life into his tour city he was hilariously quoted saying that he would
have brought the bridge anyway just for the simple ridiculous and amusing nature
of seeing the london bridge in arizona's desert but before the official purchase was agreed upon
the more intricate details had to be ironed out with the most difficult thing being the price
paid to the city of london given that the complete disassembly of the london bridge would cost around
1.2 million dollars mccauley offered double that amount staying true to his nature mcculloch even
added on top of that a payment of sixty thousand dollars meant to represent an extra one thousand
dollars for each year of his age when the bridge would be opened in arizona then by 1968 the deal
was finalized and the removal of the old london bridge began you will not believe how complicated
it was to physically move this bridge all the way to arizona well the process was certainly
not easy and cost millions of dollars in several years of construction back in england each granite
brick was marked and catalogued so that it could correctly be put back together in the united
states then the bridge itself was dismantled piece by piece even the famous metal lampposts that were
made from the melted down french cannons following napoleon's defeat at the battle of waterloo in
1815 were taken apart and packaged the 10 000 ton disassembled bridge was then loaded onto crates
and sent across the atlantic ocean through the panama canal and up the west coast to california
from there it was transported to arizona the bridge itself was placed on part of lake havasu
where it connected a peninsula to the coast where the majority of the community was however
mcculloch and his new crew now encountered another problem the reason that the london bridge had to
be replaced in london was because it could not handle the weight of cars and frequent automobile
traffic while the traffic at lake havasu city would not be as intense as it was in london
the bridge would still have to be strong enough to withstand the effects of modern transportation
as a result before the bridge was reassembled a steel reinforcement concrete frame was built
for which the bridge would sit upon giving it enough support construction was then underway and
the london bridge was put back together brick by brick curiously in an effort to make sure that the
bridge was used in the fullest extent possible the peninsula that it was connected to was separated
from the coast creating an island this way the only method to reach the island by car was through
the london bridge in arizona another three years of construction and nearly seven million dollars
spent the london bridge opened for operation for the second time in history on october the 10th
1971 mcculloch wanted to make the bridge debut one to remember and he orchestrated a massive
and theatrical ceremony which involved other showpieces such as marching bands firework
displays a team of skydivers and even a few hot air balloons at the formal dinner banquet
lobster and roast beef were served which was reportedly the same feast that was served at
the bridge's first inauguration back in 1831. both in england and even in the us the initial reaction
to the london bridge reopening in arizona was not particularly positive many scoffed at the
whole project calling it a folly a joke or scheme that would ruin both mcculloch and woods careers
newspapers in england also criticized the two businessmen and the way they went about the whole
project poking fun at the supposedly over-the-top gimmicky and american nature of the whole ordeal
the sneers and jeers aimed at mcculloch wood and their businesses didn't knock them off course
and after just a few years their extravagant and ambitious adventure most undoubtedly paid
off the allure of the famous london bridge brought people in from all across the world
lake havasu the population of permanent residents surged exponentially from just a few hundred
to more than ten thousand by 1974. currently the town has 50 000 residents even more impressive
though was the number of tourists and by the mid-1970s close to 2 million visitors per year
would come in to see the london bridge throughout mcculloch's career he would apply his trade with
many elaborate and interesting projects but despite few believing in him bringing the
london bridge to lake havasu city was easily the most successful of these bizarre ventures
almost 200 years after its original construction and over 50 years since it was transported
to the united states the 980 foot long london bridge still stands tall today at lake havasu
city spanning across the bridgewater channel and connecting the main metropolis area to the island
filled with stylish resorts hotels shops and restaurants despite arizona being landlocked this
island also contains a beachfront resort perhaps the only beachfront in the state to this day lake
havasu remains a popular tourist destination with thousands of people crossing the london bridge
every year the bridge is also used for many other events or activities both on or under the bridge
such as concerts film or photography sets or various types of boating races according to some
tourists aren't the only thing crossing the london bridge though as the location is home to many
ghost stories leading many to believe that it is haunted or cursed which is probably understandable
given its long history i mean really take a moment to consider whether or not you believe in ghost
stories it's undeniable that the london bridge saw its fair share of death devastation and tragedy
for example fires were historically grave dangers to big cities and london was no
different there have also been several great fires throughout london's history that caused
mass destruction naturally affecting the bridge itself most notably in 1212 1633 1666 and 1725
the first fire in 1212 was particularly tragic as both ends of the bridge caught on fire trapping
many people in the middle furthermore throughout turbulent periods of english history the bridge
saw much bloodshed as it was usually caught in the crossfire in multiple rebellions uprising and
even civil wars as mentioned before the london bridge also used to display the severed heads
of many english enemies then we have the unpredictable water that flowed under the
bridge at times rising to levels that caused boats to capsize or crush into the stone arches
as consequences of all these events the london bridge has been a prime location for
the aforementioned ghost sightings an occurrence that some believe continue in arizona from dark
shadows to unexplainable sounds some believe that the origin of haunting might come from the famous
lamppost that lined the bridge as they were made from the melted down french cannons that
were captured by the british following napoleon's defeat at the battle of waterloo and it should be
appreciated that the battle tactics of the era of the napoleonic wars placed heavy emphasis
on artillery meaning that those cannons probably killed thousands of soldiers and as a result
those lampposts are blood-stained whether or not these stories are true and if the london
bridge is actually haunted or cursed the stories are still extremely fascinating and
in a sense a part of its history that's it for today's episode don't forget to register for
crossout by following my link in the description below by doing so you'll secure yourself the free
bonuses which come with it now until next time guys this is ryan socash signing off