West Virginia

Welcome to West Virginia - home to the coal industry, scenic mountain goodness, and country roads that take you home.

West Virginia has a large wifi dead zone. Residents of Green Bank, WV can't use cell phones, wifi or modern tech due to the Green Bank Telescope which is actively used for radio wave sensitive research.

In 1974 the main bridge in the town of Vulcan collapsed. The town went about 6 years without a passable bridge to drive out of town. The mayor of the town pleaded for years with legislators and coal companies to rebuild but they claimed there was no money to do so. A bartender was losing patients and so he did what any rational person would do, he wrote the Soviet and East Germany embassies in DC for foreign aide. The Soviets agreed to fund the bridge if America would not. The story blew up and made a mockery of the US government. Within hours of the story being brought to light, Governor Jay Rockefeller promised to partner with the state of Kentucky to build a new bridge. In 1980, the bridge was constructed by the US. Sometimes if you want something done you have to go to more extreme measures, and shaming the Government might just work in your favor.

West Virginia wasn’t supposed to be the name of the state. Originally it was going to be named Kanawha to honor a Native American tribe but after it succeeded from the state of Virginia, the officials still wanted Virginia to be part of the name. Which is pretty lame and would have been much cooler is we had a state named Kanawha.

There’s a lighthouse in landlocked West Virginia. The Summersville Lake Lighthouse stands 104 feet tall and is part of a lake retreat. The construction is quite new and came about in 2009 as part of a joke. The owners of the retreat were chatting with a guest who worked with a crew building wind turbines. They made a joke that if the crew had extra tower sections they’d turn it into a lighthouse and it just so happens that they did! The tower sustained damage during transport to the construction sight and it was deemed unsuitable for wind production but perfect for the resort! (bonus points for not letting it go to waste!)