Marianna
The hardware store - open by appointment only - is indicative of the size and scope of Marianna's business district. A sign in the window, which gives the phone number of the owner who will gladly open the store for the sale, is evidence of the communal spirit in this small Washington County town.
Marianna, reputed at one time to have had one of the largest, most complete commercial coal plants in the world, is now - like many other southwestern Pennsylvania coal towns - struggling to survive.
The flag flies every day in front of the Marianna Community Public Library, a sign that life goes on despite a loss in population and industry.
Marianna once attracted the attention of immigrants who came in great numbers to work in mines that boasted state-of-the-art modern equipment, steel tipples and double hoisting cages.
On the hillside behind the mine's shaft, 282 yellow brick houses - mostly single-family dwellings - and a boarding house were erected. It was one of the few mining communities in the county to have brick houses with indoor plumbing.
Merchants and farmers in wagons and buggies traveled up and down the rows of homes selling fresh meats from canvas-covered wagons; breads and cakes, still warm from the oven; and ice cream from the back of a buggy. Children came running when they heard the words, ' Ice cream, ice cream; one for a nickel, two for a dime; six for a quarter; any old time. '
In its early years, the community attracted many visitors. Mining experts were invited by President Theodore Roosevelt to inspect the coal industries of the United States and were impressed with what they saw, especially at Marianna.
The town that was once a model community constructed for miners is a shadow of its former self.
'Marianna at one time was just as ornery as any other town,' said Ed Thomas, 86. A former mayor in Marianna, Thomas, a retired miner, also wore the hats of game warden and police chief.
'I was anything they needed,' he said, adding that the borough no longer has its own police force and is protected by the Pennsylvania State Police.
'Marianna is better than some towns that lost their mines,' he said, 'at least we got a store, restaurant and beer garden still here.'
While records indicate that Marianna Borough was incorporated in 1910, its history is part of Bethlehem Township dating back to the late 1700s.
In 1790, Bethlehem Township, one of the original 13 townships in Washington County, was divided into East and West Bethlehem townships. West Bethlehem remained rural until the opening of a 13,000-acre block of coal rights by Pittsburgh-Buffalo, a Pennsylvania company.
Pittsburgh-Buffalo was incorporated in 1903 as the result of a merger of a number of smaller coal companies. During the same time period, roughly 993 acres of land in West Bethlehem Township was laid out for the Borough of Marianna.
In 1906, John H. Jones, president of Pittsburgh-Buffalo, constructed a modern mine and model town at Marianna, named for Mary Ann Feehan Jones, wife of David G. Jones, secretary and treasurer of the coal company.
Pittsburgh-Buffalo retained ownership of the Marianna Mine until 1923, when Bethlehem Steel Co. acquired it with the purchase of Cambria Steel Co. The mine is still under the ownership of Bethlehem Steel Co.
The first shafts of the Marianna Mine were sunk in 1906, and by 1910 the new mine was breaking production records. An entry in the historical mine records indicates, '... in one hour 900 tons had been hoisted out of its shaft - more coal in a single hour than the average mine of that period produced in three days.'
'In Marianna, everybody at one time worked in the mine,' said former miner Stephen Ziats of Marianna. 'Today no one works in the mine.'
Despite modern equipment and record production, several disasters led to the mine's demise. The first disaster occurred in 1908, when an explosion took the lives of 154 men; in 1953, a fire shut down work at the mines for six months, but no one was killed; and, in 1957, another mine explosion resulted in seven fatalities. The latter accident occurred on a nonworking day, otherwise more could have lost their lives.
Finally, a fire in 1988 resulted in the permanent closing of the mine leaving 350 people out of work and a struggling community.
Ziats was one of those miners who lost his job after 15 years. However, his story is a tale of success that came out of tragedy.
After trying his hand at construction and truck driving, Ziats entered a retraining program and went back to school. After earning his bachelor's degree, the former miner continued in the master's degree with the intention of teaching.
Instead, the displaced miner became the United Mine Workers Career Center coordinator at California University of Pennsylvania and works with other displaced miners.
If the mine fire had not occurred, Ziats would still be in the mines.
The mine that once saw tremendous activity now stands abandoned. The buildings that once housed production are now deteriorated with rust, broken windows and 'No Trespassing' signs.
'There are still tragedies,' said Ziats. 'Some miners found jobs and others are still waiting for Marianna to reopen. That won't happen.'
Another former miner, John Price of Marianna is reminded daily of the changes that have taken place in his community.
'I see it every day, because I work at the water plant (nearby),' he said. 'Sometimes I can still see the activity that was there when the mine was in operation. It killed Marianna. There were hotels and a big bank in this area when I was younger - much more business than we have today.'
Price, whose father was a miner as well, came to Marianna from nearby Fredericktown in Washinton County in 1969 to work in the mine. He bought a company house, he said, a double for $10,000 about 25 years ago.
'It's a shame how so many lost jobs because of the fire,' he said as he recalled that day. 'I was working that shift, but outside in the washer area. It was a day I'll always remember. The fire is out now, everything is sealed.'
Price talked about the buildings as he remembered them. He pointed to the now rusted girders on the abandoned coal washing plant. 'There's still a lot of good steel on that building, shows how well it was built,' he said.
Price works for the borough now, and part of his job at times is to chase away curious youngsters.
'It's for their protection,' he said. 'Children have a natural curiosity, and they want to see what's in these old buildings. I've even caught some on top of the silo. You have to watch them, they don't realize how dangerous it is.'
Marianna has a rich history, and the stories from residents tell it all.
Lifelong resident Eda Nirverth has a direct tie to the development of Marianna. It was her grandfather, Joseph Guarascio, who was contracted to build the company homes that still stand in the community.
'He came from Italy to do the project,' she said, 'and two of his brothers, my grandmother and my mother followed a year later.'
Later her father made his way to Marianna on the heels of his girlfriend, Nirverth's mother.
'I live in the house where I was born - built by my parents,' she said. 'My father worked with the mining company on the outside.'
At 70-plus, Nirverth is the librarian for the Marianna Community Public Library located in the West Bethlehem Township Building, formerly the West Zollarsville School.
'When I went to school in this building, little did I imagine I'd be working in the same room,' said Pat Sawicky, township secretary and treasurer. 'I can remember walking up the steps for seventh and eighth grades, and the little room that is now the kitchen was our little tiny library.'
The two-story, red-brick building was erected in 1906 and housed the elementary grades through eighth. It was used as the gym in the late 1950s when the communities of Beallsville, Centerville, Deemston and Marianna merged with East Bethlehem and West Bethlehem townships to form Bethlehem-Center School District.
Following the merger, according to the librarian, students continued to attend some community schools for about 15 years until the completion of the Bethlehem-Center school complex.
In the early 1970s, the West Bethlehem Senior High School, built in 1917, was demolished. The original bell from that building is now located in front of the community library.
Although Marianna Borough and West Bethlehem Township are governed separately, the two are often seen as one community. Separated geographically by Ten Mile Creek and other landmarks, the two locales are joined by community involvement. The library is one such example.
'When we first opened the library in 1969, we located in the building that once housed the post office and Farmers and Miners Bank of Marianna,' said Nirverth, the first librarian. 'That's where we remained until 1972 when the building was demolished.'
The library began through the efforts of a small group of people from the area.
'We canvassed for old books or any books we could get,' said Nirverth. 'Other libraries were good in giving us duplicates.'
The library started with at least 2,000 adult fiction and nonfiction books and about 1,000 children's books, according to Nirverth. It also subscribed to 12 magazines and three newspapers. Today it boasts of more than 7,000 titles, more than 2,000 paperback titles, 22 magazine subscriptions and the same three newspapers.
Donations continue. A recent visit from Myra Hemmis and her granddaughter, Kristy Kita, members of the Church of the Latter Day Saints in Washington, Pa., added more titles to the library. In addition to books, musical CDs by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir were also donated.
The library is also the site for community gatherings such as weekly card clubs, women's club meetings and library-sponsored programs.
It was natural for Inge Lange, library board member, to get involved with the library after she arrived in 1972. The German native had been schooled in bookselling.
'In Germany you have to go to school to be a bookseller,' she explained. ... 'Besides classroom studies, you work with someone in the business, a mentor.'
Lange's husband, Ulrich, is a mining engineer. The couple originally came to New York in 1964 for what was to be a two-year stay with a German mining company. Instead, Ulrich later changed jobs, and they remained.
Besides her involvement with the library board, Lange started a mail-order business importing mining artifacts from Germany.
'In Europe they are very traditional-minded,' she said. 'They collect these items. Statues of St. Barbara, the patron saint of mining is in every miner's home. ... They give gifts that relate to the mining industry.'
The couple enjoy traveling and collect mining artifacts wherever they find them. A recent trip to Australia added to their collection.
For Inge Lange, Marianna is home. 'I enjoy being part of the library board and the community, because people and books are my No. 1 priority, besides family, of course.'
Marianna's small business district, which includes the open-by-appointment-only hardware store, is located on Main Street in West Bethlehem Township and serves both the borough and township. It includes the Steele Lillie Post 744 American Legion hall, the War Memorial honoring veterans from both communities, a funeral home, novelty shop and union hall.
The Zip Code - 15345 - applies to both Marianna Borough and West Bethlehem Township and is displayed on the post office on Main Street.
Besides the post office, one of the most active businesses on Main Street is The Ideal Shop owned by Marianna Mayor Ida Fien, whose husband, Robert, was employed at the mine for 45 years.
'Marianna was always a wonderful place,' said the mayor. 'We had everything here at one time, drugstores, hotels - everything you could want or need. It's still a nice place to live. ... It's home to us.'
The Ideal Shop, owned by the mayor since 1983, is a mixture of variety and convenience store where customers can rent video tapes and buy cigarettes, soda and lottery tickets. A small table with two chairs is tucked behind a partition next to the old-time heater where customers can reminisce with the mayor over a cup of coffee.
Kirk Rogozinski, Marianna native and former miner, often stops by for coffee and conversation. The fire of 1988 was a recent topic.
'In my heart I knew it was the end,' he said, 'as I helped to fight the fire. I was sick in my stomach, a feeling I'll never forget.'
Also on Main Street is the Marianna-Scenery Hill Telephone Co. According to Scott Horne, owner, the company was started in the late 1800s or early 1900s.
'From my great-grandmother's autobiography we know there was an operation before Marianna was incorporated,' he said. 'Started by my great-grandfather, J.W. Shidler, the business has remained in the family.
'The telephone company wasn't much in the beginning, just some lines on poles, probably mostly party lines,' said Horne. 'In those early years a telephone was considered a luxury, and people couldn't get service in rural areas. It was not cost-effective to build facilities for one or two customers.'
The company started with a switchboard in a room near the kitchen of the old Shidler farmhouse. The farm property was purchased by the mining company to sink the first shaft.
'In my grandfather's day before 1959, you had to use an operator to make a call,' said Horne. 'That's how calls were placed through a switchboard. The telephone was built for voice not for data traffic, but with the explosion of the Internet the voice network is going in the direction of data.'
Today the customer base is close to 3,000, according to Horne. The company serves parts of Amwell, East Bethlehem, North Bethlehem and Somerset townships, Beallsville and Deemston boroughs and all of West Bethlehem Township, Cokeburg and Marianna boroughs and a small area of Greene County.
Another lifelong resident of Marianna, Eleanor Manfredi, recalled a time when three or four grocery stores, a Hecht's Department Store, a jewelry store, the Russian Hotel and a movie theater were part of the community.
'The theater changed the bill every other day with no show on Sundays,' she said, 'because the mine superintendent believed Sunday was God's day. No baseball games were allowed on Sunday either.'
'Let's not forget the company store,' Manfredi, who is almost 69, said. 'It was around until sometime in the 1950s; then it became a mattress factory, after that a tire retread company.'
The memories of Manfredi, who serves as the borough secretary, are similar to those of most residents who grew up in the mining community. The mine brought her parents to Marianna from Czechoslovakia five years before her birth.
'One of my fondest memories is the log cabin that was next to our house,' she said. 'Sunday services were held there and I can recall the Easter egg hunts we would have.'
Entertainment also included square dances held in the community building for the benefit of the fire department, she said.
Today the fire department is planning another activity - a summer festival to be held July 28 and 29.
'This will be the first year, and depending on how successful it is we want to make it an annual event,' said coordinator Jim Faure. 'It's a fund-raiser to update our aging equipment.'
Faure is a recent resident of Marianna, having moved from Cecil in Washington County about two years ago. He immediately got involved by becoming a volunteer with the fire department that serves both the borough and West Bethlehem Township.
'My wife, Stacey (Barker), is a native of Marianna,' he said. 'It's a nice, quiet little town.'
What does the future hold for Mariannaâ¢
'I would like to see it developed,' said Laurie Moss, borough council president. 'Maybe it won't get to the point (where) it once was when the mine was in operation, but if we could get even half of that back, it would be great. I think there's a lot we can do here.'
Moss, a native of Vermont, came to Marianna about 16 years ago. While new to Pennsylvania, she is not new to mining and mining towns.
'We moved about every two years,' she said. 'My dad was a mining engineer who designed coal mining machinery, diesels and electric scoops. When he got a better job offer, we'd move.'
Moss said she followed in her father's footsteps, but in the manufacturing end of the business. It was a job with Baker Mine Service in Waynesburg that brought her to the area. Although Moss no longer works in the mining industry, she remains in Marianna which is home to her now.
The passenger trains no longer run through Marianna, and residents have to travel nearly 10 miles for a gallon of gas, but it's home to the folks who live there, striving to make it a better place while enjoying what they already have.
Joanna Blair is a Charleroi free-lance writer for the Tribune-Review.
