Lake Havasu City Visitor Center & English Village
Click the arrows below to take the tour.
Jan Kassies is the Director of Visitor Services for the TripAdvisor award-winning Lake Havasu City Visitor Center. He has been a resident of Lake Havasu City since 2003. A former educator in the Netherlands, he has a love of history and cultures and is fluent in four languages. He has appeared internationally on television and film, including Britain’s ITV and the BBC.
“The history of the London Bridge is not just in the structure itself. It isn’t the granite stones nor the architecture of the bridge that make for a good story. It’s the people and even the animals that have walked over and inhabited the bridge that make it interesting.”
Points of Interest
Entrance Gate
The gate at the entrance to the English Village was once a part of Witley Court of Worcestershire, England. Built in the 17th century and expanded enormously in the 19th, Witley Court stands today as a spectacular relic of royalty and extravagance.
After it was destroyed by fire in 1937, Lake Havasu City founder Robert P. McCulloch bought one of the gates in the 1960s and shipped it to Lake Havasu City.
Dragon Boundary Markers
When the London Bridge was dedicated in 1971, Lake Havasu Ciity founder Robert P. McCulloch gave an acre of land in Lake Havasu City to London, which placed the markers on the border between its land and the English Village. Years later, when Lake Havasu City wanted to use that land for a visitor’s center (then a pub built by the City of London), London agreed to lease it back for a quit rent of a Hopi Kachina figure.
Dragon Boundary Marks
From Wikipedia:
“The dragon boundary marks are cast iron statues of dragons on metal or stone plinths that mark the boundaries of the City of London. The dragons are painted silver, with details of their wings and tongue picked out in red. The dragon stands on its two rear legs, with the right foreleg raised and the left foreleg holding a shield which bears the City of London’s coat of arms, painted in red and white.”
Plaque on Dragon Boundary Marker
“The boundary of the City of London, England, established in Roman times, is marked by a heraldic dragon at each entry by freeway. This dragon marks the boundary of the City of London Land in Lake Havasu City”
Fountain
Built in 1999, the fountain has no historical ties to the English Village or London Bridge. The stones are from Mexico, the lions from a landscape company in Las Vegas. The paved path below it, heading toward the bridge and Bridgewater Channel, is lined with shops and eateries for visitors to enjoy.
London Bridge & Bridgewater Channel
Click the arrows below to take the tour.
Points of Interest
Red Telephone Box
A familiar sight on the streets of the United Kingdom, this red telephone box offers no public telephone service. Instead, it’s a popular spot for photography with a British flair. An identical telephone box stands near the entrance to the Visitor Center.
London Bridge Arches
The arches under the London Bridge are a venue for live performances and special events; a grand passageway for boaters, anglers and watersports fans; and a popular subject for photographers, filmmakers, writers, artists and history buffs.
Lake Havasu City’s Founders
This statue stands in honor of Lake Havasu City’s founders: Robert Paxton McCulloch (left, May 11, 1911 – February 25, 1977) and Cornelius Vanderbilt “C.V.” Wood (December 17, 1920 – March 14, 1992). McCulloch was an entrepreneur known for his brand of chainsaws and outboard motors, Wood as the chief developer and first employee of Disneyland.
Love Locks on the London Bridge
The Paris love lock tradition is alive and well at Arizona’s London Bridge. Two lovers write their names on a lock and attach it to one of the two fences at the entrance to the bridge. As an expression of their commitment to each other, they toss the key into the Bridgewater Channel.
London Bridge Foundation Stone
The Foundation Stone of the London Bridge was dedicated on September 23, 1968. It symbolizes “the stong bonds of friendship that exist between America and England” and the London Bridge’s history and traditions, spanning nearly 2,000 years.
London Bridge Lampposts
The ornate lampposts lining the London Bridge’s crossing were made from the melted-down cannons captured by the British from Napoleon’s army, after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
City of London Coat of Arms
Each of the lampposts on the London Bridge bears the official coat of arms of the City of London.
State of Arizona London Bridge Rededication Plaque
This plaque at the London Bridge entrance commemorates the opening of the London Bridge on October 10, 1971.
City of London Plaque
Spanning 930 feet (280 meters), the London Bridge was designed to connect pedestrians, motorists and cyclists on “mainland” Lake Havasu City to an island on the Colorado River. A bronze plaque from The City of London stands on the island side at the terminus of the bridge.
London Bridge Etchings
On the Island side of the bridge, near the abutment, two American soldiers with the First Infantry Division left their marks when they were on weekend leave in London during World War II.
