The London Bridge, as recited in the childhood rhyme, "London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down," actually never did fall down. It has, however, been taken down, moved and rebuilt, resulting in one of the engineering feats of the twentieth century and one of the most famous tourist attractions in Arizona.

The current bridge, originally built in 1831, is actually the fourth London Bridge to be built over the River Thames in England. In 1968, a decision was made in London to replace the old two-lane bridge because it could no longer carry the burden of modern-day traffic into the city. The British government decided to offer it for sale to someone who would rebuild it, allowing the famous structure to live on in history and in the voice of young children. And here entered an enterprising American industrialist by the name of Robert P. McCulloch.

McCulloch, who owned the large chain-saw manufacturing company that bears his name, was building a new city in the Arizona desert. The city to be built was to be named Lake Havasu City. Hearing that the bridge was for sale. McCulloch submitted the winning bid of $2,460,000. The bridge was taken apart block by block with each block numbered and coded to aid in rebuilding the structure as it had been originally built. Twenty-two million pounds of granite blocks were shipped across the Atlantic Ocean. The 10,276 blocks were reassembled at Lake Havasu City in the precise order in which they stood over the River Thames for almost a hundred and fifty years.

The London Bridge is now the second largest tourist attraction in Arizona and draws an estimated million and half visitors annually. In early October of each year, a celebration is held in Lake Havasu City to commemorate the dedication of the bridge's new home in America.