Fayette artist's creativity unearthed at old mine along Great Allegheny Passage

An abandoned coal mine is telling its story in new ways along the Great Allegheny Passage in northern Fayette County.

The cement walls of Banning No. 2 are a perfect canvas for Rachel Sager’s preferred method of art — mosaic.

She and artists from around the world are using the deteriorated structure as a way to tell the story of the mine, its people and the history of the land. It’s a unique offering for Great Allegheny Passage users near mile marker 104.

“I saw it as a blank canvas,” she said. “It’s just perfect as a mosaic.”

Entrepreneurs have started or expanded existing businesses in the communities along the 150-mile Great Allegheny Passage — which got its name 20 years ago — that connects Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Md. There are bicycle shops, bed and breakfasts and restaurants.

But nothing quite like Sager’s vision.

It’s a mixture of history and art at The Ruins Project.

The processing plant remnants of Banning No. 2 sit along the Youghiogheny River in Perry Township, just north of Whitsett on the Great Allegheny Passage, a former rail line. It was in operation from the late 1800s until the mid-1900s, and the trains that came by transported coal to Pittsburgh, Sager said.

The mine was closed up and its structures abandoned, left behind to decay for decades until Sager, who comes from a family of coal miners, found a neighboring home for sale six years ago. She built a studio that doubles as a shop for trail users and got to work as a steward of the abandoned mine. About 75% of visitors are trail users.

“I’ve always cared about the story and cared about this little part of the world,” she said.

There are mosaic pieces throughout the crumbling walls, reviving the old structure in a different way. Tiny bits of colored glass fill old industrial gears. A stunning visage of a coal miner fills one space, the start of a series of portraits, and a 67-foot mosaic of a train can be seen from the trail during winter months.

“It’s like the coal miners are coming through time, speaking through the artists,” Sager said. “I am doing what I’ve been put on this earth to do.”

She works with artists around the world who mail her mosaic pieces to attach to the walls with mortar. Sager created a huge map with a line of orange mosaic glass showing the winding path of the Great Allegheny Passage in one section of The Ruins. The map, with light blue glass partially completed showing the rivers, includes tiny landmarks and names of the towns along the way.

Sager’s latest crowdsourced work is 50 species of birds that are being created by mosaic artists around the world and sent to her for addition to the project. A lot of new pieces, including some sculptures, will be added this summer. New additions may end next year.

The Great Allegheny Passage was a driving factor in establishing a studio along the trail filled with handmade trinkets, jewelry and refreshments. Sager charges for hourlong tours into The Ruins Project by appointment only.

To make an appointment or learn more about the project, visit sagermosaics.com.