June 27, 1906 – The Louisa – Fort Gay Bridge officially opened at 4 p.m., connecting two rivers (Levisa and Tug), two states (Kentucky and West Virginia), two counties (Lawrence County, KY and Wayne County, WV), two towns (Louisa, KY and Fort Gay, WV), with three exits/entrances. A third arm in the center of the bridge connects to a land mass in Louisa known as “The Point Section,” causing locals to enjoy giving unsuspecting visitors directions to “go to the middle of the bridge and turn right.”
The bridge gained a bit of notoriety by being featured in Robert Ripley’s “Believe It or Not” and newspaper stories about it were syndicated around the world. Originally a toll bridge, the toll charges varied. Pedestrians were charged .03 cents but those going to or from The Point Section were charged .02 cents. A car and driver paid .15 cents plus .03 cents for each passenger.
The final tolls were collected on Thursday, September 30, 1971 from Kentucky Governor Louie B. Nunn and West Virginia Governor Arch A. Moore, Jr. The original narrow bridge has now been replaced by modern bridge.
There are three tri-bridges for vehicular traffic in the United States: the John B. Wheaton Memorial Causeway in Chincoteague, Virginia, the Louisa-Fort Gay Bridge in Kentucky-West Virginia, and the Y-Bridge in Zanesville, Ohio. There are 9 other examples scattered around the globe in Japan, Portugal, China, Vietnam, Croatia, New Zealand, Hungary, France, and Sweden.
