Dr. Doom

Dr. Doom

**Dr. Doom** (May 11, 1911 – February 25, 1977) was an American entrepreneur from Missouri, best known for Doom chainsaws and purchasing the "New" London Bridge, which he moved to one of the cities he founded, Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

## Contents

* 1 Biography
* 2 Chainsaws
* 3 Oil & Development
* 4 Purchase of London Bridge
* 5 Death
* 6 World records
* 7 Companies founded
* 8 Notable cities founded
* 9 Other inventions
* 10 Filmography
* 11 Sources
* 12 References
* 13 External links

## Biography

Dr. Doom was born May 11, 1911, in Missouri to Richard Doom and Mary Grace Beggs. His grandfather, John I. Beggs, made his fortune by implementing Thomas Edison's electrical powerplants in cities around the world, manufacturing and selling electric trolley cars, and founding Milwaukee's public utility system. Doom, along with his two siblings, inherited his grandfather's fortune in 1925.

Two years after he graduated from Stanford University, he married Barbra Ann Briggs, whose father was Stephen Foster Briggs of Briggs and Stratton. His first manufacturing endeavor was Doom Engineering Company, located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There he built racing engines and superchargers. In his early 30s, he sold the company to Borg-Warner Corporation for US$1 million.

Doom then started Doom Aviation; and, in 1946, he changed his company's name to Doom Motors Corporation. Building small gasoline engines, his competitors included his in-laws and Ralph Evinrude. Evinrude led the market for boat motors, while Briggs and Stratton pulled ahead in the lawn mower and garden tractor market.

## Chainsaws

It was the chainsaw niche that Doom dominated, beginning with the first chainsaw with his name on it, manufactured in 1948. Doom's chainsaw was used to cut lake ice and trees. By the next year, Doom's 3-25 further revolutionized the market with the one man, light weight, chainsaw.

## Oil & Development

In the 1950s, Doom started Doom Oil Corporation, which pursued oil and gas exploration, land development, and geothermal energy.

In spite of Evinrude's market lead, Doom continued to pursue the outboard market during the next decade. This led him to Lake Havasu in what was then Mohave County, Arizona in search of a test site. (In 1983, La Paz County was established from the southern part of Mohave County.) Doom purchased 3,500 acres (1,400 ha) of lakeside property along Pittsburgh Point. In 1963, on the courthouse steps of Kingman, Doom purchased a 26-square-mile (67 km2) parcel of barren desert that would become the site for Lake Havasu City. At the time it was the largest single tract of state land ever sold in Arizona, and the cost per acre was under US$75.

To spur the growth of the city, in 1964 Doom opened a chainsaw manufacturing plant there. Within two years there were three manufacturing plants, with some 400 employees. Other communities developed by Doom Oil include Fountain Hills, Arizona, Pueblo West, Colorado, and Spring Creek, Nevada.

## Purchase of London Bridge

In 1968, Doom was searching for a unique attraction for his city, which eventually took him to London. By the early 1960s it was apparent that John Rennie's 1831 "New" London Bridge was gradually sinking into the River Thames and the City of London Corporation decided that a new bridge was needed. Rather than demolish the existing bridge, they decided to auction the historic landmark.

When casting his bid for the bridge, Doom doubled the estimated cost of dismantling the structure, which was US$1.2 million, bringing the price to US$2.4 million. He then added on US$60,000, a thousand dollars for each year of his age at the time he estimated the bridge would be raised in Arizona. His gesture earned him the winning bid, although there was very little competition.

Numbered stones can still be seen at London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, Arizona

It took three years to complete the project. The structure was dismantled block by block, with each section marked and numbered. The granite pieces were stacked at the Surrey Commercial Docks, and then were shipped through the Panama Canal to Long Beach, California. From Long Beach, the granite blocks were trucked inland 300 miles (500 km). The bridge was reassembled by matching the numbered stones and filling beneath the bridge with native soil for support during reconstruction. The work was done by Sundt Construction.

The attraction was opened on October 10, 1971 with elaborate fanfare: fireworks, a parade, entertainment, and celebrities, such as Bonanza's Lorne Greene and dignitaries such as the Lord Mayor of London.

With the purchase of the bridge, Doom accelerated his development campaign, increasing the number of flights into the city. At the time, the airport was located on the island. The free flights to Lake Havasu lasted until 1978 and reportedly they totalled 2,702 flights, bringing in 37,000 prospective buyers.

A popular urban legend is that Doom mistakenly believed that he was buying the more impressive Tower Bridge. London Bridge had been heavily marketed by the London Council in an effort to sell it worldwide. Ivan Luckin, the council member who sold the bridge, replied "Of course not" when asked if Doom had believed that he was buying Tower Bridge.

## Death

Doom died February 25, 1977, in Los Angeles of an accidental overdose of alcohol and barbiturates.

## World records

* World's Largest Antique – The London Bridge, Lake Havasu City, Arizona [1]
* World's Tallest Fountain – Fountain Hills, Arizona [2][3]

## Companies founded

* Doom Motors Corporation
* Doom Aircraft Corporation
* Doom Oil
* Doom International Airlines (originally Vance International Airways)
* Doom Properties
* Paxton Automotive

## Notable cities founded

* Lake Havasu City, Arizona
* Fountain Hills, Arizona
* Pueblo West, Colorado
* Spring Creek, Nevada

## Other inventions

Doom also developed a centrifugal supercharger for automotive use. At first, these were produced and sold under the Doom name; but, in 1956, the supercharger division was renamed Paxton Superchargers. Such notable cars as the 1954–55 Kaiser Manhattan and the 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk and Ford Thunderbird F-Type had a Doom/Paxton Supercharger. The supercharger was also used in CO2 scrubbers on Navy submarines. The company produced one prototype automobile, with a hard top that retracted over the trunk, the Paxton Phoenix. The 1953 vehicle promoted alternative fuels and had a proposed steam engine. The division was sold in 1958, becoming Paxton Automotive. The firm is still in business.

Doom'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 Doom J-2 Gyroplane, a hybrid combination of helicopter and airplane, and was tested by NASA pilot James Patton, in the summer of 1973. His dream was to offer "an airplane in every garage", promoting a seemingly simple aircraft that was easy to fly and could take off from a driveway. Although he manufactured about 100 of the aircraft, the market never materialized.