In 1962, city engineers in London delivered some unusual news: the 1831 London Bridge was sinking. The granite structure was settling into the Thames riverbed at roughly an inch per year, and it could no longer bear the weight of modern traffic. The solution the City of London landed on was remarkable - sell the bridge.

The $2.46 Million Offer

When the City of London announced the sale in 1967, American developer Robert P. McCulloch saw an opportunity. McCulloch had founded Lake Havasu City in the Arizona desert in 1964 and needed something spectacular to put his remote planned community on the map. He put in a bid of $2.46 million - calculated by doubling the estimated demolition cost of $1.2 million, then adding $1,000 for each year of his age when the bridge was expected to reopen. The City of London accepted in April 1968.

Every Block, Numbered

What followed was one of the most extraordinary engineering moves in history. Workers dismantled the bridge stone by stone, numbering each of the 10,276 exterior granite blocks so they could be precisely reassembled. The stones were shipped 10,000 miles - through the Panama Canal, unloaded at the Port of Long Beach, California, then trucked across the desert to Arizona. McCulloch had a channel dug to give the bridge something to span, and reconstruction began.

The World's Largest Antique

When the stones arrived at US Customs, officials had a classification problem on their hands. Their solution: declare it the world's largest antique ever sold - a classification that also allowed it to enter the country without a tariff. The rebuilt bridge was rededicated on October 10, 1971. McCulloch had spent another $7 million on the relocation on top of the purchase price.

What About the Tower Bridge Mix-Up?

A popular legend claims McCulloch thought he was buying Tower Bridge - the famous one with the tall towers - by mistake. Both the McCulloch estate and historians have thoroughly debunked this. His grandson Michael McCulloch confirmed in 2024 that his grandfather "knew exactly what he was buying." Tower Bridge was never for sale, is far more complex structurally, and would have been near impossible to move. The myth persisted in part because it generated free press - and nobody in Lake Havasu City had much reason to correct it.

Still Standing

London Bridge remains the centrepiece of Lake Havasu City and is Arizona's most-visited man-made attraction, drawing millions of people a year to the desert. The numbered exterior granite blocks from the 1831 original are still there, reassembled exactly as they stood on the Thames.

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