The Magic Bridge

I have always been fascinated by the Olive Street Bridge that leads from Niles to McDonald. There are

5 generations of my family that have a connection to that bridge which I have nicknamed the Magic Bridge.

The magic began  in 1918 when  Grandpa Tony Musolino and his friend Annunzio Cua walked to work from Niles to   the Carnegie Steel Mill in McDonald. Grandpa Tony lived with the Cua family on Youll street until he was able to purchase his own home but both men walked to work  and had to  scale a steep set of steps to reach the  bridge that took them into McDonald.  In 1921 the bridge was completed and the steps removed.

 It took ten years before my grandmother, mother and uncle could arrive here from Calabria to join Grandpa Tony. I remember watching Grandma Francesca pack his lunch to go to work at the mill. The work days were from 6AM to 6Pm and Grandpa had a huge lunch box fashioned of steel with a leather strap. Grandma would lovingly pack that lunch box with four sandwiches made of fresh sliced Italian bread from Chieffo’s bakery, filled with salami or prosciutto meats from Morabito’s. Each sandwich was wrapped in waxed paper. She would also pack a fruit from one of their trees and a treat from Nickel’s bakery

.Grandpa’s lunch box was steel with a leather strap.

By  1950 Grandpa Tony  was driving across the Magic Bridge in his Willys Jeep with the canvas top as he headed to Carnegie Steel. He eventually retired from the mill but the photo of his work crew from 1918 was proudly displayed on the wall in the kitchen for many  more years.

 

 Early crew at Carnegie Steel in 1918.Grandpa Tony Musolino  is in  the first row , fourth from the right  and   Annunzio Cua is third row , seventh from the left, walked to work with my grandpa.
 

 During World War II my mother crossed the Magic Bridge as they needed women to fill the jobs in McDonald that were left as the men went to war.  As the war ended , my father left his home on the East End of Niles to cross the Olive Street Bridge for his new job in McDonald. There must have been some magic in that bridge because it brought two people together at the steel mill who wed and created  three great kids, me and my siblings.

   Dad crossed the Magic Bridge until his retirement , put me through college and in the 1970’ s I found myself crossing that bridge to work in McDonald as a teacher. In August of 2015, the Magic Bridge was reopened as the  Mayors of Niles and McDonald , bands and many more paraded across the new bridge for the grand re-opening.

 August 2015 –re-opening of the bridge

I still cross the Magic Bridge to visit my niece from Niles who married one of my students after meeting in college .They have two beautiful little girls who seem to have magic powers that pull me across that bridge to visit the as often as I can.