This may sound odd, but I could swear that I had seen a video that was about odd tourists attractions and they showed the London Bridge, but it was just a bridge sitting in the dirt out in the desert. It had no water and was just supported by dirt.When was it finished?
@@christophermichael.w.7577 Parker Dam, which created Lake Havasu, was finished in 1938, so the lake had been there about 20 years before the founder of Lake Havasu City started buying the property the city would be built on. The bridge was bought in 1968 and it was finished in 1971. It's never sat on an empty stretch of desert as far as I know, though with the way the Colorado is drying up, who knows what it'll look like in 10 years.
There's really not much on that island besides a few restaurants.. Some trinket shops.. A few hotels an RV park and a few other minor things. Majority of the city is on mainland. I'm not from here but I've been hanging around here for the past month
But even just saying that it would end up in North America would probably have people skeptical (even if you told them it was moved to New York, Philly, or Boston). Even moreso if you told them it would be moved to the Sonoran Desert of all places. Moving and reconstructing a bridge brick-by-brick like that was a hell of an undertaking and honestly would sound like total crazy talk if the process wasnt well documented
I was there about a month. They built a small English village next to it with a terrific little bar that I visited every night I was free, and often sat on the patio beneath the first span at night. Circled underneath it numerous times on a houseboat, and drove across it almost every day to go swimming off the island. At that time, you could still see the numbers on the stones from when they tore it down and rebuilt it. And it was all done with "chainsaw money". Absolutely fascinating.
Never been to Arizona, but I've ridden a boat under the "new" London Bridge (which is one of the most plain bridges on the Thames and is easy to miss if you don't notice the "London Bridge" sign). My dad told me about the "Tower Bridge" urban legend, which I'm sure a lot of Brits like to believe. Allegedly.
Thank you Simon. Your channels have effectively brought back the good old days of the Discovery, Science, and History channels before they fell to the reality TV side
Ya when I was little I always heard my folks talking about it but I wasn't really convinced they knew what they were talking about till I researched it.
Simon, check out the uranium plant in Oak Ridge, TN. Part of the Manhattan Project, of course. The K25 or Y12 plant, I don't know which for sure , depleted the United States of all our silver reserve due to all the electric wiring being silver not copper. Also, when they first fired up the unit, the magnetism was so strong, it pulled all the nails from the walls. And when the plant was built, it was the largest building in the world at over a million and a half Square feet.
Just watched his video about largest demolitions & that was in there. Although I'd still like to know more details about the building. Unfortunately I hear the locals hated it due to some environmental hazards.
@@DownwithEA1 That could be correct, I live about 30 miles from Oak Ridge in Alcoa, TN (which itself is a whole different story) and we always call this area " Cancer Valley" not the Tennessee Valley.
They did use 14,00 tons of Treasury silver, I have not seen anywhere that said they used ALL of it. Also, the story about the nails being magnetically pulled from the walls sounds apocryphal, a Google search didn't bring up any mention. But Oak Ridge does have some cool history.
The U.S. is full of absurd and incongruous things, but walking across London Bridge, in the middle of a desert townlet, in the 115 degree heat had me giggling uncontrollably the whole way. On a related note, William Randolph Hearst bought a medieval monastery in Spain and brought it to California. He ran out of interest, the stones went into storage. The warehouses burned down, destroying the assembly instructions. San Francisco hates to waste things (once they used a large but unseaworthy sailing ship as a bulwark while adding land, then buried it as well). The monastery stones were used when Golden Gate Park was being put together the stones were used for landscaping filler, most notably in Stow Lake and the Japanese Tea Garden. BONUS fact: when San Francisco relocated all but a few graveyards to Colma (SF is always looking for usable real estate) the old headstones were used to line the extensive drainage gutters at Buena Vista Park. The vast majority were emplaced inscription-down, but I have found a few with the carvings visible.
@@hkbabel , I've also been to the Urbano Sundial (inspiredimperfection.com/adventures/ingelside-sundial/), the ruins of the Sutro Baths, and the Wave Organ. SF is full of interesting things, to say the least.
@@d.2605 about an hour south of SF is San Jose. They have an amazing Rosicrucian Temple, the Zen Garden off of The Alameda, and of course the very (very) strange Winchester Mystery House. All of which were ("allegedly") precisely placed in their locations for enigmatic reasons. (And back to SF, whenever we walked Octavia Street we touched the eucalyptus trees in greeting to Mary Ellen Pleasant. Her house is long gone, the trees remain.)
In the mid 1950's we lived in Blythe, CA. My father would drive to Parker Dam every week for his work. He clearly remembered the big beautiful lake with absolutely nothing else there but desert. Lake Havasu was a jewel waiting to be discovered.
I've been to Lake Havasu and visited London Bridge. It's still amazing. We rented a boat and went under several times admiring the structure and the story behind it. I'm a sucker for history.
They for a time were selling small pieces of highly polished stone. I bought one and still have it. By now I know they have run out of ORIGINAL pieces of stone from the bridge. That was 18 years ago and its now the year 2020. Better buy a post cards instead.
I live in las vegas, Nevada. So lake havasu is a nice little vacation spot to get out of town and eascape the heat by jumping in the lake. I always knew that bridge was from England rode my bike over this bridge. So great video explaining the history answered alot of questions I've had for years about it
@@hawksquawks I've lived in the state for years and have never known someone to have gone to visit London Bridge lmao. At least where I'm at I doubt most people even realize it's in Arizona. I never said he said its the most iconic so idk why you keep saying that. It's an interesting little factoid, not "one of the most iconic landmarks" in Arizona.
Thanks for such an engaging account of LHC's most notable landmark. I'm a native Zonie and have been there several times. I used to work a contracted job there for several years in the 90s. I would stay at the Holiday Inn just across from the bridge. Thousands of people even in the dead of summer would come and visit the bridge. Just at the city end of the bridge is a small English village that apparently is owned by the City of London as McCulloch gave them the land. One additional thing to note about McCulloch promoting the town is that he moved his chain-saw company to LHC pretty much assuring at least his employees who moved to LHC would be residents. He's a fascinating person whose history includes a list of American manufactures; he married a Briggs of Briggs and Stratton fame and worked with Evinrude of boating engines. Hotter than hell's front porch in the summer, it's really a nice town.
I remember first hearing about this on the news. Everyone thought "this guy is Nuts ". Then he actually did it! There was a lot of strange stuff going on in the 1970's!
That would be an interesting video, for sure. That Temple is amazing. (It's the Mormon (Latter Day Saints) temple, in case anyone doesn't know what is being talked about)
@@permanentvisitor2460 It appears the official name is The Tabernacle --- also often referred to as either the Salt Lake Tabernacle or the Mormon Tabernacle, but never as a temple.
@@jonnunn4196 No, the Tabernacle is a different building in Temple Square; it's the oval domed building while the temple is the white cathedral/castle looking building.
From a desert outpost to a vacation resort town of 55,000. I’d say his gamble paid off epically. Oh and who can say they bought a 150 year old bridge with a song named after it? Most baller purchase ever.
Greetings from Phoenix! I have traveled to Britain twice and it goes without saying they both were unforgettable experiences. As for Lake Havasu, never been but I hear it's hot.
After a visit to London, my 13 year old son insisted we visit the London Bridge while on holiday in Las Vegas. After spending a few weeks in The Big Smoke, Lake Havasu City was nothing short of a major letdown. We did enjoy seeing the bridge and sad cheesy gift shop over the whopping 20 minutes, that it kept us entertained. This experience can also be yours with the investment of a 5 hour round trip drive from Las Vegas, through some of the most uninteresting parts of Nevada, California and Arizona.
As a Brit that is so true and so funny. I was speaking to a man from California (really nice bloke) who loved architecture and general history and was amazed when I told him my home town is 600 years old and some buildings still stand. RE: Roadtrip, in our defence we can jump a 1hr ferry or half hour train with our cars to another country but your comment is spot on! :)
@@chriswall27 I love the trains in Europe. My wife and I like to not make solid plans when we fly to Europe. We know we can hop on a train and go anywhere.
@@beefgoat80 Fab, where have you been? My Europe (outside UK) train trips have only been within Netherlands and Belgium but I have travelled in your country from LA to NYC via Chicago and WDC and all over India which was AMAZING!
My grandparents live “near” Lake Havasu. I remember them taking me to see the London Bridge as a kid. It was... well... underwhelming. Even as a kid. That said it’s still a fun story.
Yup, Lake Havasu. The funny part is that on the Themes River Cruise they asked that trivia question which I already new and they asked who had been to Lake Havasu. I raised my hand and of course everybody wanted to know who raised their hand. Lake Havasu is a weekend getaway for Southern California. It also became a big Spring Break spot after they started cracking down on Palm Springs years ago. I haven't been there in a while but have several friends with vacation homes there. It gets really hot in the summer.
It’s crazy how they put this.... 3 hrs away from Phoenix in the middle of nowhere. Lake havasu city has 60k people. But aside of spring break it’s boring, nice swimming and boating though. The bridge is nice.
i lived in Lake Havasu it is hot there but has its own beauty and the london Bridge is awesome i use to work on the island and had to cross the bridge every day to get to work thanks for the awesome history lesson in to the bridge
I could swear that I have seen a video about the London Bridge where it was supported by dirt and had no water flowing under it. It may have been a while, but I remember that it was sort of a tourist attraction.
Simon, thanks for the video, Ive been going to “Havasu” for nearly 30 years now and even bought a vacation home there just 4 years ago. I live just outside Los Angeles and make the 4-5 hour drive there every other weekend or so. My house there has increased in values more than 50% since buying and we love boating and jet skiing there in the summer and go there for thanksgiving and New Years in the fall and winter now as all of our parents are gone now.
I had heard this story but had no idea of the details. Very cool. I hope Brits are happy that their wonderful historic bridge is still standing and being appreciated.
Drove right past there a week ago. I guess I'd qualify as a 'snowbird' now. Spend the winters down here in the Southwest. I've never seen the bridge, but saw signs advertising it. Now I know all about it. Thanks Simon.
One of the great parts about living in Arizona is that in one quick road trip you can see the Grand Canyon, the Hoover Dam and the London Bridge as they are all literally within a few hours drive of each other in Northern/ Northwestern Arizona.
I remember going to Lake Havasu in the early 1980's. My parents kept telling me we were going to see London Bridge there. I was thinking they were putting me on given how far away from London we were. We had a great time. I have pictures somewhere that I'd taken with my Kodak 110 camera. Yep, I'm old. It was interesting to see how much the city has grown. Thanks for sharing.
I lived in havasu my sophomore year of high school. there's a yearly tradition that all graduating seniors, must at some point in the senior year, jump off the bridge.
We travel the US in our RV these days and knew that Lake Havasu was a popular place. I had been thinking of driving to Arizona to see the London Bridge. Because I had the wrong idea that it was the Tower Bridge, having never bothered to google pictures. Thanks, saved me a trip. I did go see the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota (ala the Weird Al song) with many more things to see.
I've lived in Liverpool for 35 years, still not visited Penny Lane or Strawberry Fields. :) I think it's what people do when stuff is on their doorstep.
@@Jin-Ro ya I mean it's several hours through a bland desert from Phoenix so it's just not worth it. Been to all the other big AZ things though, Grand Canyon, Sedona, etc. And they all have awesome drives too, so that helps lol.
My parents took us on a family vacation to Lake Havasu (562 miles from our home) in the late 70s, and I remember having zero concept of how interesting it was that I was seeing the actual London Bridge. Everything was overshadowed by the terrible sunburn I got while we were there. Still, interesting!
I have been to Lake Havasu City and it was a nice side-trip. I got lunch and bought a souvenir so the place made a couple of bucks off me. I may go again some day, but I'm in no hurry.
I have been watching TopTenz for a few months now and his advertisement for this channel led me here. I have lived in Lake Havasu City for 14 years, and I know the story, it's just funny it made it as a topic.
I live in Arizona in a few years back I was dating a girl from London and when she came down to visit I asked her if she wanted to go see the London bridge and she told me she just got off of flight she didn't have any interest in going back on one so soon I said don't worry it's only a couple hours away if we drive. The first thing she said when she saw it was "why?"
Weird feeling when a RUclips series you sub to does a video on your tiny hometown in the middle of nowhere. My daughter likes to sing "London Bridge is Falling Down" under the bridge.
As far as I recall, that bridge also replaced the bridge from the song "London bridge is falling down" as that one had buildings built upon it, and eventually so many that it started to fall apart, so, down it came and up went the one that now lives in Arizona...
Do you think you could do a video on the Nevada-Class Battleships as both ships had interesting careers. One of which USS Nevada tried to escape Pearl Harbor, fought at D-Day , Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, and survived 2 atomic bombs. I would say that's a mega ship. Awesome video. Hope more videos are coming.
I used to live in Havasu and walked that bridge more than a couple of times, its pretty neat to see that historical piece in the middle of the Mojave desert...huge tourist attraction though aside from Vegas further up the road. I've even got a couple bits from it from one of the many tourist shops.
Thank you Simon. I've been addicted to your channel(s) for a while now and I loved seeing this video, especially since I started working in Lake Havasu City several months ago, and I've been to the bridge numerous times. One of the things I like to do at the bridge is to capture the truly beautiful sunsets we get in Arizona. There are also some very nice shops near the bridge and you can even buy some fish n' chips. If you're ever in this corner of the state, it's worth checking out. Then you can venture out to the Colorado River and see the numerous lighthouses that pop up along the short. It's a fun town. :-)
Since I lived in AZ I didn't know about this until I went out to see older family friends of my moms and it's a nice bridge to say the least. It's still well kept and the town is very nice. Just don't go there looking for "moderate" weather because moderate there can be high 90F to 100+.
During a business trip to Phoenix, many years ago, several of us - having a day with no meetings and nothing else to do - decided to drive a couple hundred miles (give or take) just to take a gander at London Bridge. It's a bridge. Arizona is hot. Choose wisely before visiting.
It’s really cool, been there many times! Lake Havasu is such a fun town! No trouble finding buyers these days, most houses go for half a million and up these days!
GREAT SIDE PROJECTS EPISODE IDEA...The design, build, running and possible mass duplication of the Unprecedented Carbon Neutral HydroWind Power Plant on the island of El Hierro in Spain!! I think the world needs to know about this technology and it's likely applicable Anywhere with a windmill and a water tower feeding a hydro plant !!! Please upload this so we can spread the good word!!
I saw this bridge when I was a kid, we went to lake Havasu and there it was sitting in the dry dusty desert, I didn’t remember there being any water underneath it at that time but surely there must’ve been, maybe I just couldn’t see it from the car. I remember thinking, “why would they build a bridge in the middle of nowhere with no water under it?” Later on I saw it with water and I have to say it wasn’t really as bad an idea as I thought it was when I first saw it. We all heard the children’s nursery rhyme London Bridge is falling down when we we’re little and we always thought, this must be the “London Bridge” they’re talking about. 😁
I've been copy & pasting the below message for ages on your other channel, Geographics. This is a fascinating place with so much history and so many stories to tell, not least our own wedding there in 2005! I don't want to have to be spamming TWO of your channels now! Allegendly! OG Blaze reference there! Simon, please could you possibly do a video of the Rosslyn Chapel? This place is so worthy of a video! Building commenced in 1456 and took many years to complete, despite it's relatively small size. The main reason was the sheer volume of intricate carvings within. Virtually every square inch has been carved with symbols both Christian as well as Pagan, depictions from the bible and even a type of corn from America that pre-dates Columbus' supposed discovery. Two aspects that must be mentioned when discussing Rosslyn are that the Holy Grail is alleged by some to be hidden there, as portrayed in the Dan Brown novel The Da Vinci Code with Tom Hanks playing the lead role in the film. The other aspect is The Apprentice Pillar. The Master Mason carved his pillar (on the left as you look down the aisle) and apparently had to go away on some other business only to discover on his return the Apprentice mason had done his own 'freestyle' work on a pillar to the right. The apprentice's pillar was such a thing of beauty the Master mason killed the apprentice out of jealousy! This is such an amazing place with so much history and so many stories I honestly think Geographics should do a video on it.
Weird to have a vacation spot of mine be talked about and the history behind it is even crazier than I thought. My family has a house on the opposite side of the river at Havasu landing.
I remember when my parents took us to see the London bridge way back when you were able to buy pieces of the left over granite as a souvenir. I wonder if you still can ?
I saw them filming the movie of Jack the Ripper------VERY CHEESY! Not worth the electricity to watch. Then another Hollywood film company came into town with a science fiction movie about killer fish. Movie was very fishy but the town fathers got their monies.
@@andrew-xr1de 🤣🤣 for sure. Money's what its all about right? Yeah. I barely remember the Jack the Ripper tv movie, but it was my first introduction to the subject matter. I've been there once. Probably the closest ill ever come to getting to Europe!🤣🤣
Two things I liked about this video is subject matter, and that video is less then seven minutes long. The subject matter- I kept hearing roamers since I live in New Mexico, and maybe will go visit it, thank you.
The evolution of your enunciation and presentation has been quite a pleasure to witness. I have no doubt that someday you will be paid lots of money for the way you pronounce Empire
Don't worry. We fixed your creaky bridge. We love it. The shops under it, and around it are awesome. The view from the canal is such a difference from SW architecture. Boating is honestly the biggest draw to LHC, and the bridge has settled in nicely. :) Cheers from AZ.
Also, cars and trucks wreck into the top rails and such from time to time. They have a pretty good system for repair to maintain it's looks and spirit.
been there most of my life, awesome. party town but ya. what's more kind of interesting, Simon, is how all the strange wild life ended up in the American SW like carp and birds that are from Europe
One thing I wish you'd mentioned is that London Bridge STILL holds the record as the largest antique object ever sold.
Legitimately sold.(The Eiffel tower was sold SEVERAL times over,by a conman.)😎➕😯💰🔜😨➕😎💰💨
Great factoid!
So was the Brooklyn Bridge
I travel to Havasu 2 or 3 days a week for work and the bridge is always impressive every time I see it.
This may sound odd, but I could swear that I had seen a video that was about odd tourists attractions and they showed the London Bridge, but it was just a bridge sitting in the dirt out in the desert. It had no water and was just supported by dirt.When was it finished?
@@christophermichael.w.7577 Parker Dam, which created Lake Havasu, was finished in 1938, so the lake had been there about 20 years before the founder of Lake Havasu City started buying the property the city would be built on. The bridge was bought in 1968 and it was finished in 1971. It's never sat on an empty stretch of desert as far as I know, though with the way the Colorado is drying up, who knows what it'll look like in 10 years.
I do have to say that bridge really does bring the town together.
Budm bum bum tshhh.
There's really not much on that island besides a few restaurants.. Some trinket shops.. A few hotels an RV park and a few other minor things. Majority of the city is on mainland. I'm not from here but I've been hanging around here for the past month
Wow, the dude bought a bridge, from across the Earth to have a landmark for his new city. What a legendary baller
I misread that as “legendary bellend” and really made myself laugh
@@RataStuey It's ok I read bridge as fridge and I was slightly confused 😂
We also ended up with the Queen Mary as well.
Apparently us Americans love an epic "car boot sale" from our friends across the pond.
Allegedly
One big reason no one in the 1830'swould have guessed the London Bridge would end up in Arizona is that it did not become a state until 1912
But even just saying that it would end up in North America would probably have people skeptical (even if you told them it was moved to New York, Philly, or Boston). Even moreso if you told them it would be moved to the Sonoran Desert of all places. Moving and reconstructing a bridge brick-by-brick like that was a hell of an undertaking and honestly would sound like total crazy talk if the process wasnt well documented
I was there about a month. They built a small English village next to it with a terrific little bar that I visited every night I was free, and often sat on the patio beneath the first span at night. Circled underneath it numerous times on a houseboat, and drove across it almost every day to go swimming off the island. At that time, you could still see the numbers on the stones from when they tore it down and rebuilt it. And it was all done with "chainsaw money". Absolutely fascinating.
Never been to Arizona, but I've ridden a boat under the "new" London Bridge (which is one of the most plain bridges on the Thames and is easy to miss if you don't notice the "London Bridge" sign). My dad told me about the "Tower Bridge" urban legend, which I'm sure a lot of Brits like to believe. Allegedly.
We do like to believe that. (Even if it isn’t true!)
Well, it’s a hell of a lot more conspicuous in the Arizona desert. 😁
Thank you Simon. Your channels have effectively brought back the good old days of the Discovery, Science, and History channels before they fell to the reality TV side
Living in Arizona my whole life, this was cool to learn cuz you just hear stuff growing up if you dont do the research
Ya when I was little I always heard my folks talking about it but I wasn't really convinced they knew what they were talking about till I researched it.
Simon, check out the uranium plant in Oak Ridge, TN. Part of the Manhattan Project, of course. The K25 or Y12 plant, I don't know which for sure , depleted the United States of all our silver reserve due to all the electric wiring being silver not copper. Also, when they first fired up the unit, the magnetism was so strong, it pulled all the nails from the walls. And when the plant was built, it was the largest building in the world at over a million and a half Square feet.
They used SILVER?!? That must have been pricy. Copper is one of the five Cs in AZ: Cattle, Cowboys, Cotton, Copper and Cactus.
@@sallyintucson . Yeah silver is a great conductor of electricity, probably only gold being better. Well, that's available in quantity.
Just watched his video about largest demolitions & that was in there. Although I'd still like to know more details about the building. Unfortunately I hear the locals hated it due to some environmental hazards.
@@DownwithEA1 That could be correct, I live about 30 miles from Oak Ridge in Alcoa, TN (which itself is a whole different story) and we always call this area " Cancer Valley" not the Tennessee Valley.
They did use 14,00 tons of Treasury silver, I have not seen anywhere that said they used ALL of it. Also, the story about the nails being magnetically pulled from the walls sounds apocryphal, a Google search didn't bring up any mention. But Oak Ridge does have some cool history.
The U.S. is full of absurd and incongruous things, but walking across London Bridge, in the middle of a desert townlet, in the 115 degree heat had me giggling uncontrollably the whole way.
On a related note, William Randolph Hearst bought a medieval monastery in Spain and brought it to California. He ran out of interest, the stones went into storage. The warehouses burned down, destroying the assembly instructions.
San Francisco hates to waste things (once they used a large but unseaworthy sailing ship as a bulwark while adding land, then buried it as well). The monastery stones were used when Golden Gate Park was being put together the stones were used for landscaping filler, most notably in Stow Lake and the Japanese Tea Garden.
BONUS fact: when San Francisco relocated all but a few graveyards to Colma (SF is always looking for usable real estate) the old headstones were used to line the extensive drainage gutters at Buena Vista Park. The vast majority were emplaced inscription-down, but I have found a few with the carvings visible.
Oh my gosh, so much material for so many Simon channels !!!!!!!!!!!!!
@@hkbabel , I've also been to the Urbano Sundial (inspiredimperfection.com/adventures/ingelside-sundial/), the ruins of the Sutro Baths, and the Wave Organ.
SF is full of interesting things, to say the least.
And Hearst wasnt the only one. The Cloisters in NYC are constructed from 4 actual medieval cloisters, funded in large part by John D Rockefeller Jr.
dang. good post. what's on the next episode of stuff you post in the comments on sideprojects?
@@d.2605 about an hour south of SF is San Jose. They have an amazing Rosicrucian Temple, the Zen Garden off of The Alameda, and of course the very (very) strange Winchester Mystery House. All of which were ("allegedly") precisely placed in their locations for enigmatic reasons.
(And back to SF, whenever we walked Octavia Street we touched the eucalyptus trees in greeting to Mary Ellen Pleasant. Her house is long gone, the trees remain.)
In the mid 1950's we lived in Blythe, CA. My father would drive to Parker Dam every week for his work. He clearly remembered the big beautiful lake with absolutely nothing else there but desert. Lake Havasu was a jewel waiting to be discovered.
I've been to Lake Havasu and visited London Bridge. It's still amazing. We rented a boat and went under several times admiring the structure and the story behind it. I'm a sucker for history.
They for a time were selling small pieces of highly polished stone. I bought one and still have it. By now I know they have run out of ORIGINAL pieces of stone from the bridge. That was 18 years ago and its now the year 2020. Better buy a post cards instead.
I live in las vegas, Nevada. So lake havasu is a nice little vacation spot to get out of town and eascape the heat by jumping in the lake. I always knew that bridge was from England rode my bike over this bridge. So great video explaining the history answered alot of questions I've had for years about it
"One of the state's most iconic landmarks," is a bit of an overstatement for the state with the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley
Painted Desert, Petrified Forest, Joshua Tree, etc etc. As a proud Arizonan, the bridge is boring 😂😂
I thought the same thing
@@zoetheexasperatedhistorian2516 one quibble Zoe.. Joshua Tree is in California 😉
@@hawksquawks …which is an overstatement
@@hawksquawks I've lived in the state for years and have never known someone to have gone to visit London Bridge lmao. At least where I'm at I doubt most people even realize it's in Arizona. I never said he said its the most iconic so idk why you keep saying that. It's an interesting little factoid, not "one of the most iconic landmarks" in Arizona.
Thanks for such an engaging account of LHC's most notable landmark. I'm a native Zonie and have been there several times. I used to work a contracted job there for several years in the 90s. I would stay at the Holiday Inn just across from the bridge. Thousands of people even in the dead of summer would come and visit the bridge. Just at the city end of the bridge is a small English village that apparently is owned by the City of London as McCulloch gave them the land.
One additional thing to note about McCulloch promoting the town is that he moved his chain-saw company to LHC pretty much assuring at least his employees who moved to LHC would be residents. He's a fascinating person whose history includes a list of American manufactures; he married a Briggs of Briggs and Stratton fame and worked with Evinrude of boating engines.
Hotter than hell's front porch in the summer, it's really a nice town.
Suggestion for Megaprojects: HMS Dreadnought. Not only did it revolutionise battleship design, but was built and commissioned in record time.
I've been to this bridge on my grandfather's boat! It felt very good being in it's shade
They allow boats on the bridge? I guess I just assumed they went under it. 🤷🏾♀️
I remember first hearing about this on the news. Everyone thought "this guy is Nuts ". Then he actually did it! There was a lot of strange stuff going on in the 1970's!
Maybe the Salt Lake City temple? Weird history, huge building, looks beautiful.
That would be an interesting video, for sure. That Temple is amazing.
(It's the Mormon (Latter Day Saints) temple, in case anyone doesn't know what is being talked about)
@@permanentvisitor2460 It appears the official name is The Tabernacle --- also often referred to as either the Salt Lake Tabernacle or the Mormon Tabernacle, but never as a temple.
Washington DC cathedral is pretty impressive too.
@@jonnunn4196 No, the Tabernacle is a different building in Temple Square; it's the oval domed building while the temple is the white cathedral/castle looking building.
the mormons in Utah may be nuts, but they are architectural geniuses
From a desert outpost to a vacation resort town of 55,000. I’d say his gamble paid off epically. Oh and who can say they bought a 150 year old bridge with a song named after it? Most baller purchase ever.
It's also the world record for the largest antique ever sold
The song wasn't named after this version of the bridge
Greetings from Phoenix! I have traveled to Britain twice and it goes without saying they both were unforgettable experiences. As for Lake Havasu, never been but I hear it's hot.
Take it from an ex-Havasu resident. It can hit 120 degrees fahrenheit, and the lake feels like warm bath water.
@@andrew-xr1de Ha!! I believe it!🤣🤣
After a visit to London, my 13 year old son insisted we visit the London Bridge while on holiday in Las Vegas. After spending a few weeks in The Big Smoke, Lake Havasu City was nothing short of a major letdown. We did enjoy seeing the bridge and sad cheesy gift shop over the whopping 20 minutes, that it kept us entertained. This experience can also be yours with the investment of a 5 hour round trip drive from Las Vegas, through some of the most uninteresting parts of Nevada, California and Arizona.
There's that saying: Americans think a building built 100 years ago is old, and the British believe a car trip of 100 miles is a journey.
As a Brit that is so true and so funny. I was speaking to a man from California (really nice bloke) who loved architecture and general history and was amazed when I told him my home town is 600 years old and some buildings still stand.
RE: Roadtrip, in our defence we can jump a 1hr ferry or half hour train with our cars to another country but your comment is spot on! :)
@@chriswall27 I love the trains in Europe. My wife and I like to not make solid plans when we fly to Europe. We know we can hop on a train and go anywhere.
@@beefgoat80 Fab, where have you been? My Europe (outside UK) train trips have only been within Netherlands and Belgium but I have travelled in your country from LA to NYC via Chicago and WDC and all over India which was AMAZING!
Then theres Texans
In Australia we can travel 2000kms to see 50,000 year old paintings.
My grandparents live “near” Lake Havasu. I remember them taking me to see the London Bridge as a kid. It was... well... underwhelming. Even as a kid. That said it’s still a fun story.
The steakhouse on the island side, Shugrue's, is bloody fantastic.
I currently live in Lake Havasu City, and you are right. Not much here but this glorious bridge.
Yup, Lake Havasu. The funny part is that on the Themes River Cruise they asked that trivia question which I already new and they asked who had been to Lake Havasu. I raised my hand and of course everybody wanted to know who raised their hand. Lake Havasu is a weekend getaway for Southern California. It also became a big Spring Break spot after they started cracking down on Palm Springs years ago. I haven't been there in a while but have several friends with vacation homes there. It gets really hot in the summer.
It’s crazy how they put this.... 3 hrs away from Phoenix in the middle of nowhere. Lake havasu city has 60k people. But aside of spring break it’s boring, nice swimming and boating though. The bridge is nice.
i lived in Lake Havasu it is hot there but has its own beauty and the london Bridge is awesome i use to work on the island and had to cross the bridge every day to get to work thanks for the awesome history lesson in to the bridge
I live in Arizona ans its crazy to think such an amazing landmark is here
I had been to the bridge a couple times when I was younger back in the 70s.
I could swear that I have seen a video about the London Bridge where it was supported by dirt and had no water flowing under it. It may have been a while, but I remember that it was sort of a tourist attraction.
Alway been aware of this story but good to know more about it thanks.
Simon, thanks for the video, Ive been going to “Havasu” for nearly 30 years now and even bought a vacation home there just 4 years ago. I live just outside Los Angeles and make the 4-5 hour drive there every other weekend or so. My house there has increased in values more than 50% since buying and we love boating and jet skiing there in the summer and go there for thanksgiving and New Years in the fall and winter now as all of our parents are gone now.
I had heard this story but had no idea of the details. Very cool. I hope Brits are happy that their wonderful historic bridge is still standing and being appreciated.
Drove right past there a week ago. I guess I'd qualify as a 'snowbird' now. Spend the winters down here in the Southwest. I've never seen the bridge, but saw signs advertising it. Now I know all about it.
Thanks Simon.
I was born and raised in Lake Havasu, and I'll tell you this town has grown so much.
One of the great parts about living in Arizona is that in one quick road trip you can see the Grand Canyon, the Hoover Dam and the London Bridge as they are all literally within a few hours drive of each other in Northern/ Northwestern Arizona.
I've been waiting for this one. Thanks for the great video.
I remember going to Lake Havasu in the early 1980's. My parents kept telling me we were going to see London Bridge there. I was thinking they were putting me on given how far away from London we were. We had a great time. I have pictures somewhere that I'd taken with my Kodak 110 camera. Yep, I'm old. It was interesting to see how much the city has grown. Thanks for sharing.
I live at havasu and love walking across the bridge regularly ❤
I lived in havasu my sophomore year of high school. there's a yearly tradition that all graduating seniors, must at some point in the senior year, jump off the bridge.
Do a video on the engineering and construction of the original Erie Canal, an engineering masterpiece for it's time.
We travel the US in our RV these days and knew that Lake Havasu was a popular place. I had been thinking of driving to Arizona to see the London Bridge. Because I had the wrong idea that it was the Tower Bridge, having never bothered to google pictures. Thanks, saved me a trip. I did go see the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota (ala the Weird Al song) with many more things to see.
Why on earth would London sell one of its most famous landmarks? You must have seen Tower Bridge enough on TV or films to know it's still in London?
I remember this ! How could I forget .😎🌴
Been to Lake Havasu a few times, it really lovely. Fun fact - they still have so much left over bridge bits, you can buy a chunk of it as a souvenir.
Been living in Arizona for 7 years and still haven’t gone to see this.
Just don’t go in the summer. I’ve been in AZ since “74.
Lived here 15. Same.
I've lived in Liverpool for 35 years, still not visited Penny Lane or Strawberry Fields. :)
I think it's what people do when stuff is on their doorstep.
@@Jin-Ro ya I mean it's several hours through a bland desert from Phoenix so it's just not worth it. Been to all the other big AZ things though, Grand Canyon, Sedona, etc. And they all have awesome drives too, so that helps lol.
Lake Havasu is way too hot! I prefer Flagstaff
Have been to Lake Havasu several times and the bridge is really cool.
My parents were at the Bridge over Lake Havasu, Arizona, on a 5 November. The workers there had no idea about the importance of the date.
Didn't they make a movie about that with Hugo Weaving in a mask?
My parents took us on a family vacation to Lake Havasu (562 miles from our home) in the late 70s, and I remember having zero concept of how interesting it was that I was seeing the actual London Bridge. Everything was overshadowed by the terrible sunburn I got while we were there. Still, interesting!
I have been to Lake Havasu City and it was a nice side-trip. I got lunch and bought a souvenir so the place made a couple of bucks off me. I may go again some day, but I'm in no hurry.
My grandparents had a small piece of the granite as a refrigerator magnet from one of their trips to Arizona.
I actually stayed at the campground on the Island of this bridge during a cycle tour! Awesome to see Simon talk about it on his channel!
I have been watching TopTenz for a few months now and his advertisement for this channel led me here. I have lived in Lake Havasu City for 14 years, and I know the story, it's just funny it made it as a topic.
I lived in Lake Havesue and that picture of the desert was way to lush than what it really looks like!
It definitely tripped me out crossing the London Bridge, drunk, in the middle of Arizona.
AS was foretold - the video about london bridge is released. Praise Simon!
I live in Arizona in a few years back I was dating a girl from London and when she came down to visit I asked her if she wanted to go see the London bridge and she told me she just got off of flight she didn't have any interest in going back on one so soon I said don't worry it's only a couple hours away if we drive. The first thing she said when she saw it was "why?"
I used to live in Havasu. I've been over that bridge more times than I can count. Used to take the kids to the park on the island
That's interesting! Never knew that and walked across London Bridge (in London) almost daily.
I've been to Havasu a couple of times and have seen the bridge. Funny to see it newly completed in 1971 when there was hardly anything in Havasu yet.
Weird feeling when a RUclips series you sub to does a video on your tiny hometown in the middle of nowhere. My daughter likes to sing "London Bridge is Falling Down" under the bridge.
As far as I recall, that bridge also replaced the bridge from the song "London bridge is falling down" as that one had buildings built upon it, and eventually so many that it started to fall apart, so, down it came and up went the one that now lives in Arizona...
Do you think you could do a video on the Nevada-Class Battleships as both ships had interesting careers. One of which USS Nevada tried to escape Pearl Harbor, fought at D-Day , Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, and survived 2 atomic bombs. I would say that's a mega ship. Awesome video. Hope more videos are coming.
Congratulations! You just described Arizona like the native Arizonan that I am. And I haven't seen the bridge since I was a baby, zero memory of it.
I used to live in Havasu and walked that bridge more than a couple of times, its pretty neat to see that historical piece in the middle of the Mojave desert...huge tourist attraction though aside from Vegas further up the road. I've even got a couple bits from it from one of the many tourist shops.
My sister lives in Lake Havasu City and i have see and walked this bit of transplanted UK 👍🏼😊
It went in *a* boat? Surely not in one trip? How big was that boat!? That's a story in itself...
Watched again. Really sounds like I've trip. Wow 😲
Wow. Had no idea!
Kinda does make me wanna route that way if ever I drive through!
Thank you Simon. I've been addicted to your channel(s) for a while now and I loved seeing this video, especially since I started working in Lake Havasu City several months ago, and I've been to the bridge numerous times. One of the things I like to do at the bridge is to capture the truly beautiful sunsets we get in Arizona. There are also some very nice shops near the bridge and you can even buy some fish n' chips. If you're ever in this corner of the state, it's worth checking out. Then you can venture out to the Colorado River and see the numerous lighthouses that pop up along the short. It's a fun town. :-)
I have visited the bridge. You can still see the markings they used to reassemble the bridge.
I believe I did suggest this for a Megaprojects video a few months ago. Thank you Simon!🌉🌉🌉🌉🌉🌉🌉
Since I lived in AZ I didn't know about this until I went out to see older family friends of my moms and it's a nice bridge to say the least. It's still well kept and the town is very nice. Just don't go there looking for "moderate" weather because moderate there can be high 90F to 100+.
A crossover over between The B1M and megaprojects would be heaven.
Been in arizona for years, have yet to see this
During a business trip to Phoenix, many years ago, several of us - having a day with no meetings and nothing else to do - decided to drive a couple hundred miles (give or take) just to take a gander at London Bridge.
It's a bridge. Arizona is hot. Choose wisely before visiting.
It's a dry heat, though.
I live in Lake Havasu!! It's lovely!
You know, Simon, that I do believe Side Projects is my favorite of your channels.
I’ve seen it in lake havasu a bunch of times flying my Cessna in to their regional airport. It’s really cool.
Right on lake Havasu! Love walking on it
Been on it! Right when it was just the bridge over sand and clear water, before the development. It was kinda beautiful back then.
It’s really cool, been there many times! Lake Havasu is such a fun town! No trouble finding buyers these days, most houses go for half a million and up these days!
GREAT SIDE PROJECTS EPISODE IDEA...The design, build, running and possible mass duplication of the Unprecedented Carbon Neutral HydroWind Power Plant on the island of El Hierro in Spain!! I think the world needs to know about this technology and it's likely applicable Anywhere with a windmill and a water tower feeding a hydro plant !!! Please upload this so we can spread the good word!!
I actually live in Lake Havasu, thanks for the bridge.
I drove over that bridge today on my way to vend at the London bridge Renaissance festival
I saw this bridge when I was a kid, we went to lake Havasu and there it was sitting in the dry dusty desert, I didn’t remember there being any water underneath it at that time but surely there must’ve been, maybe I just couldn’t see it from the car. I remember thinking, “why would they build a bridge in the middle of nowhere with no water under it?” Later on I saw it with water and I have to say it wasn’t really as bad an idea as I thought it was when I first saw it. We all heard the children’s nursery rhyme London Bridge is falling down when we we’re little and we always thought, this must be the “London Bridge” they’re talking about. 😁
I've been copy & pasting the below message for ages on your other channel, Geographics. This is a fascinating place with so much history and so many stories to tell, not least our own wedding there in 2005! I don't want to have to be spamming TWO of your channels now! Allegendly! OG Blaze reference there!
Simon, please could you possibly do a video of the Rosslyn Chapel?
This place is so worthy of a video! Building commenced in 1456 and took many years to complete, despite it's relatively small size. The main reason was the sheer volume of intricate carvings within. Virtually every square inch has been carved with symbols both Christian as well as Pagan, depictions from the bible and even a type of corn from America that pre-dates Columbus' supposed discovery.
Two aspects that must be mentioned when discussing Rosslyn are that the Holy Grail is alleged by some to be hidden there, as portrayed in the Dan Brown novel The Da Vinci Code with Tom Hanks playing the lead role in the film.
The other aspect is The Apprentice Pillar. The Master Mason carved his pillar (on the left as you look down the aisle) and apparently had to go away on some other business only to discover on his return the Apprentice mason had done his own 'freestyle' work on a pillar to the right. The apprentice's pillar was such a thing of beauty the Master mason killed the apprentice out of jealousy!
This is such an amazing place with so much history and so many stories I honestly think Geographics should do a video on it.
Weird to have a vacation spot of mine be talked about and the history behind it is even crazier than I thought. My family has a house on the opposite side of the river at Havasu landing.
I remember when my parents took us to see the London bridge way back when you were able to buy pieces of the left over granite as a souvenir. I wonder if you still can ?
There's a cheesey tv movie about the spirit of Jack the Ripper coming to Arizona with the bridge and being awakened.
I saw them filming the movie of Jack the Ripper------VERY CHEESY! Not worth the electricity to watch. Then another Hollywood film company came into town with a science fiction movie about killer fish. Movie was very fishy but the town fathers got their monies.
@@andrew-xr1de 🤣🤣 for sure. Money's what its all about right? Yeah. I barely remember the Jack the Ripper tv movie, but it was my first introduction to the subject matter. I've been there once. Probably the closest ill ever come to getting to Europe!🤣🤣
Two things I liked about this video is subject matter, and that video is less then seven minutes long. The subject matter- I kept hearing roamers since I live in New Mexico, and maybe will go visit it, thank you.
I have an aunt who lives in Lake Havasu. Definitely an odd area. I remember seeing a guy on a run when we made it to town. It was during the summer.
Thank you
This is the one I've been waiting for!
It is a beautiful bridge in person. I would like to see a video on the castle bought by a newspaper guy!!!
The evolution of your enunciation and presentation has been quite a pleasure to witness. I have no doubt that someday you will be paid lots of money for the way you pronounce Empire
Don't worry. We fixed your creaky bridge. We love it. The shops under it, and around it are awesome. The view from the canal is such a difference from SW architecture. Boating is honestly the biggest draw to LHC, and the bridge has settled in nicely. :) Cheers from AZ.
Also, cars and trucks wreck into the top rails and such from time to time. They have a pretty good system for repair to maintain it's looks and spirit.
Nothing speaks classless as a bridge from London spanning the desert southwest home of the Mojave Native Americans for thousands of years.
Been there .......it was very enjoyable
been there most of my life, awesome. party town but ya. what's more kind of interesting, Simon, is how all the strange wild life ended up in the American SW like carp and birds that are from Europe