Lake Havasu City History

 
The History of Lake Havasu City
and the London Bridge

By Bobbi A. J. Holmes

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Residents Prior to the London Bridge

       Yet even before the bridge gave national exposure to the new community, the first Havasu residents were lured into the area, in the early-sixties, by McCulloch’s dream.  Some of those early residents lived for a time in tents, or made do with kerosene lighting and primitive living conditions, much like their pioneer ancestors had done.
       In 1963, Lake Havasu City did not qualify for incorporation under state law, and so it became a recognized Irrigation and Drainage District (IDD).  The IDD’s Board of Directors acted as city councilmen, in order to run the infant city. In the early seventies, they took steps towards incorporation by instigating a feasibility study. By the end of the decade Lake Havasu City was incorporated, in 1978, one year after Robert McCulloch’s death.  Incorporation was made possible with a new state law that enabled a new municipality to organize as a city and to assume trusteeship of bonded debts and a Sanitary District. It also took a vote of the people, which came in 71% in favor of incorporation. 

McCulloch’s Later Years

        McCulloch’s diverse interests continued into the last years of his life. In 1971, the same year the London Bridge officially opened, he built his first aircraft in Lake Havasu City.  It was the J-2 Gyroplane, a hybrid combination of helicopter and airplane, tested by NASA pilot James Patton, in the summer of 1973. McCulloch’s dream was to offer “an airplane in every garage” by promoting a seemingly simple aircraft that was easy to fly and could take off from a driveway.  Although he manufactured about 200 of the aircraft, the market never materialized.
       Perhaps his vision for an airplane in every garage never became a reality; the same can’t be said for his remarkable dream for a city in the Arizona desert, a far more dramatic and seemingly unattainable goal.  Today Lake Havasu City is a vibrant, prosperous community that continues to attract new residents from all over the country and the world.