New mural in Marianna tells story of old coal mining town
Artist Lisa Scherer puts up a new mural on the side of the Pizza Company shop in Marianna with the help of pizzeria owner Ed Nowak.
Artist Lisa Scherer puts up a new mural on the side of the Pizza Company shop in Marianna with Graysville artist Jim Winegar.
Artist Lisa Scherer, right, designed and painted a new mural on the side of the Pizza Company shop in Marianna to tell the story of the old coal town’s past.
Artist Lisa Scherer, right, directs volunteers as they put together a new mural on the side of the Pizza Company shop in Marianna.
A group of volunteers stands in front of a new mural that was erected June 24 on the side of the Pizza Company shop in Marianna that tells the story of the town’s coal-mining past.
MARIANNA – Life in an old coal town is never easy once the mine closes, but the town of Marianna – six country miles from Interstate 79 – has a different story to tell.
Tucked along the banks of Ten Mile Creek in West Bethlehem Township, the natural beauty that surrounds what was once a bustling industrial complex is an invitation to get off the beaten path and enjoy a slice of bituminous history – and some good pizza, too.
A new mural on the side of Ed Nowak’s Pizza Company shop along Marianna/Lone Pine Road is a welcome hello to visitors and a testimony to the will of local artist Lisa Scherer to show the world what her hometown has to offer.
The 32-foot-by-8-foot wall of art makes a bold statement in a bright collage of images representing the farms, forests and coal history, but most of all, the waters of Ten Mile Creek, announcing to visitors, “Appreciate the past, live for today, plan for the future.”
“I got my first kayak as a Mother’s Day gift nearly 20 years ago and fell in love with the creek,” Scherer said. “I wanted it to be the main focus of the mural.”
The project brought “all kinds of artists together,” and Frank Morgan’s art students at Bethlehem-Center High School did most of the painting on the panels this spring.
“I found Alex Vivallo, who did the art for the mural through my son, Robbie, who is a multimedia game designer,” she said. “My family has been friends with the Nowak family for years, and when I approached Ed, he liked the idea because the wall was so long and bare.”
Scherer had never done a mural, but ceramic artist Jim Winegar of Graysville had.
After seeing the murals he’d done to beautify Monessen and Brownsville, Scherer contacted Winegar, while Nowak paid for the paints and materials, including the special cloth that would be painted in four-foot sections and then wallpapered into place.
On a sunny morning June 24, carloads of artists and volunteers arrived to transform the bland, beige wall of what was once the town Laundromat before Nowak decided Marianna needed a pizza shop.
“I opened this place because I couldn’t find a place to eat when I was coming home from work,” Nowak said, beaming as he watched the mural take shape.
Across the road from the pizza shop is an area that once allowed bridge access to the mine. Now, it is a shady spot to sit on a bench and enjoy the little park the Scherer family, West Bethlehem Township supervisors, Ten Mile Creek Watershed Association and other community members helped to build two years ago. The berm is neatly mowed, with planters, flowerbeds, cherry blossom trees and plenty of room to walk the dog. It’s also a great place to hang out and enjoy pizza, ice cream and even wings and gyros, thanks to Nowak’s penchant for good eats in the middle of nowhere.
“We moved here from Baldwin in 1999. Went for a drive and someone in the back seat said they knew of a farm for sale. We bought it and moved to the country,” Nowak said. “I’ve been driving to Pittsburgh to work for 17 years, and three years ago, I opened the shop. Even the company thought it wouldn’t get enough traffic, but it’s working out. My kids have all worked here, and their friends, too.”
As the mural pieces were glued into place, a miner’s smiling face appeared above a row of trees – a nod to Marianna’s coal-mining past.
When Pittsburgh Buffalo Co. built the town in 1907, it was considered a humanitarian model for its day. Workers lived in houses that offered running water, electricity and even indoor plumbing. Although hastily constructed, those yellow brick homes, mine offices, company store and community center have survived to tell the tale of what a model town of that era looked like in every structural detail.
But tragedy soon struck.
In 1908, only months after the mine opened, one of the worst explosions of the time killed 164 miners, with only one member of that shift surviving. The disaster cost lives and profits, and the mine was sold and resold as the economics of the 20th century took its toll on the price of coal.
This uniquely preserved coal town was listed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1986.
When a belt fire caused the mine to close in 1988, Marianna lost its economic engine and local businesses felt the pinch. Gas stations closed and property values dropped. Those narrow winding roads in and out of town limit access by big delivery trucks, and the railroad that once moved coal and people no longer runs.
But those cheaper prices offer young families affordable housing, and Ten Mile Creek is a great place to fish, kayak and canoe. Thanks to innovative residents such as Scherer and Nowak, along with their families, friends and neighbors, Marianna’s “plan for the future” is happening, one volunteer-driven project at a time.