The parking lot of an old bowling alley on a hill overlooking Steubenville was the place to be.
People arrived before dawn, bundled against the cold, bringing thermoses and doughnuts, cameras and video recorders.
For some it was a light-hearted adventure.
"It's something fun to see," said Jim Slater of Steubenville. "I have no emotional attachment to this old bridge."
For others, it was poignant and sad.
"It served the public well all these years and it's sort of sad to see it go," said Jim Salter.
"There are a lot of sentiments," said Jefferson County Commissioner Tom Gentile. "A lot of people wanted to see it stay and be used as a walking bridge, but I guess this is the way things work."
The 1,585-foot long suspension bridge was built in 1928.
Its stately profile was part of the landscape linking Ohio with West Virginia for 83 years.
As the time drew near, so did more and more people, hundreds pressing against the fence and some venturing beyond the fence, prompting demolition workers to shout and order them back.
Then at 7:15 a.m., the explosion took place.
The span lit up with a red hot explosion that shook the ground, followed by smoke billowing into the sky.
"It was amazing, just amazing," said Polly Yoho of Mingo Junction. "Couldn't believe how fast it went. If you would have blinked, it would have been gone. You'd never have seen it."
"It was fantastic, it was fantastic," said Joseph Pathakamuri, who shot the explosion with a 3-D video recorder. "I think we're going to put it on YouTube in 3-D."
"I thought it could have been a nice artery between both sides of the river for people to walk on or something," said Dennis Milko of Steubenville, glancing wistfully at the smoke lingering over the river. "But you know, we don't have four bridges any more. We only have three."
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