By late 1977, the small town of Vulcan, West Virginia had been trying for years to get their old bridge replaced. The original swinging bridge, which fell apart in 1975, connected the small mining community in Mingo County to the Pike County, Kentucky side of the Tug Fork. With no bridge, residents had to walk a rough, gravel road along the railroad tracks for more than two miles to a paved road.
John Robinette, the self-appointed mayor of Vulcan, lobbied the states of West Virginia and Kentucky to replace the bridge to no avail. In 1976, in a last ditch effort to draw attention to the matter, Robinette reached out to the Soviet Union to see if they might be able to help. That did the trick. Within an hour of a Soviet reporter arriving, the neighboring states agreed to fund a $1.7M bridge.
According to a 1980 New York Times article, Robinette expressed regret for his actions stating, “I’ll regret it to the day I die.” While it was viewed as a publicity stunt by many, the bridge got built. At the dedication, the Russian reporter returned to cover the event where the mayor christened the bridge with two bottles of vodka. It’s still referred to as Russian Bridge.
The internet tells me that water from the source of the Tug Fork outside Jenkinjones, West Virginia, when moving at two miles per hour, takes about two and a half days to reach the mouth of the river where it meets the Levisa Fork to form the Big Sandy River at Fort Gay, West Virginia/Louisa, Kentucky. (It would take about 45 days for the same water to travel all the way to mouth of the Mississippi River.)
Google Maps calculates a drive of just under five hours from Jenkinjones to Fort Gay on a route that follows the river most of the way.
I’ve been putting in some miles while working on Tug Fork. If Carhartt happens to see this, I’d love to collaborate with y’all on something. Have your people contact my people and let’s see what we can work out.
Take care of each other.
- Roger
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You live in a fascinating part of the world, Roger. I want to visit someday!
fascinating! i have always wondered about the name of that bridge! ty