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Links and Local Attractions It was an airfield and its proximity to a major lake that led inventor and entrepreneur Robert P. McCulloch Sr. to relocate his manufacturing facilities from Los Angeles to what is today Lake Havasu City. McCulloch was searching for a place to test his marine outboard engines - he had been a boat racer in Wisconsin in his youth - and he flew over Lake Mead and then Lake Havasu in the early 1960s. Below on a point of land on Lake Havasu was a paved but disused emergency landing field that had seen brief use by the Army Air Corps during World War II, primarily as a rest and recreation area.
In 1963, approximately 30 square miles of land was assembled through an act of the Arizona Legislature and sold at auction to McCulloch. In turn, the land was subdivided into 39,000 lots and as a planned community. Planner C.V. Wood, who designed Disneyland, wanted to avoid a grid street pattern, and with the assistance of topography already in place, designed the street system that is sometimes referred to as an aerial view of a plate of spaghetti. Wood’s goal: to create as many lots as possible with a view of the lake. McCulloch closed his Los Angeles enterprises and opened small engine factories here for marine use and chain saws, and he even manufactured J-2 Gyroplanes, convinced that the short takeoff and landing two-place aircraft would be the commuter conveyance of choice It is the lake that is the focal point of this low desert city in the transition of the Sonoran and Mohave deserts. It filled up behind Parker Dam in 1938 as a source of water for downstream users such as the Metropolitan Water District in California and later the Central Arizona Project that extends to Phoenix and Tucson.
Today, it is also a water recreation destination for powerboats of all sizes and for fishermen in search of the healthy population of striped bass, largemouth bass, catfish and more - it seems like there is a fishing tournament on the lake every weekend between March and November. McCulloch and Wood made headlines in 1968 when they bought the London Bridge from the City of London for $2.46 million, then had its disassembled and numbered blocks transported by ship to Long Beach, then by truck overland to the fledgling city to be reassembled like a giant Lego project. The bridge was assembled over dry land, the five arches buttressed by mounds of sand. When completed, a channel was dredged beneath it connecting it to Thompson Bay and the North Basin, creating a riverwalk of sorts punctuated with shops and restaurants. London Bridge was dedicated in 1971 by a contingent of Arizona and London elected officials, with about 100,000 spectators attending a three-day party that included Hollywood personalities in attendance.
Lake Havasu City today has a population of 55,000 people and is a destination not only for boaters because of its 45-mile long lake, but winter visitors driving their condos-on-wheels from Canada and the northern tier of states to enjoy the winter desert lifestyle that is devoid of snow, icicles and ice scrapers for windshields. Tourism is an economic mainstay here, but quietly over the years, the marine industry - boat manufacturing, sales and after market products - has emerged and now contributes $191 million annually into the local economy. Custom residential and commercial construction added to the community's economic well-being over the years in this Arizona community that is strongly influenced by adjacent California and the West Coast. Incorporated in 1978, the city is now celebrating its 30th birthday. Resort high-end home construction continues and more is planned, as is a fifth golf course, a four-year residential university campus, another marina, a five-star resort hotel, a 19-acre industrial park ready to go to bid, redevelopment of the Bridgewater Channel area on both sides of London Bridge, and active redevelopment of the city's commercial core on its Main Street, Upper McCulloch Boulevard. LAKE HAVASU AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE |
