Lake Havasu, Arizona

Lake Havasu is a lot of things. It is a reservoir on the Colorado River created by the Parker Dam, and it is a point of origin for the Colorado Aqueduct and Central Arizona Project, which bring water to Los Angeles and Phoenix, respectively. It has become a major resort area, with green golf courses and Tudor-style resorts in one of the hottest places in the country, and is visited by hundreds of thousands of recreational boaters annually. It is also the home of the London Bridge, which was shipped over from England when it was purchased by Robert McCulloch, the first to develop the area. McCullough first came to the lake in 1958, at a time when it was still undeveloped. He used it to test outboard engines that his company made, and established a company town on the shores, on some of the 26 square miles of land he purchased on the Arizona side. He slowly developed this property into Havasu City, built resorts, and the London Bridge (in 1968).