16. Vulcan’s Scheme Might Have Been Weird, but it Worked
The USSR’s embassy in Washington DC sent a senior journalist on December 17th, 1977, to meet Vulcan’s mayor and survey the problem. The Soviets authorized their emissary to promise the locals that their government would keep an eye on the situation, and pay for building them a bridge if their own government did do so soon.
Within an hour of that visit, word filtered down to reporters milling about Vulcan that West Virginia’s government had agreed to build a bridge. The state legislature authorized $1.3 million for the task. Today, a one-lane graffiti-covered bridge connects the people of Vulcan to the outside world.