The small town of Vulcan, West Virginia, located between mountains and the Kentucky border along the Tug River, was like many small Appalachian towns in that it was dependent on the coal industry. When the mines around the town played out in the 1960’s, Vulcan faced an uncertain future. Not only that, the residents of the town had no way into or out of the place except over an old, rickety footbridge that led over the Tug and into Kentucky, where the closest road was located.
After years of their pleas for a road into town being ignored by both the West Virginia and federal governments, the residents of Vulcan decided in 1977 on a rather novel approach to getting funding. They wrote to the Kremlin in Moscow, describing their plight, and applied for foreign aid from the USSR.
The Soviets played it to the hilt, sending reporters to West Virginia, and bringing attention to Vulcan. Amidst threats by citizens to dynamite any “communist bridge” that would be funded by the Russians, the West Virginia government finally decided to spend $1.3 million dollars to build a real bridge over the Tug River. Now, at least, the residents could drive in and out, even if it had to be through Pike County, Kentucky