In nearby outcroppings and under the surface of the ground, in the Laurel Highlands area, there were rich deposits of the 19th century’s most important fuel, coal. A number of independent, for profit companies mined the coal, which was used to heat nearby homes, fuel industry, and even make steam to power the gristmill until it was converted to electricity in 1952.
Consequently the mining took its toll on the mill and on the community. Subsidence caused the mill to crack, settle and even flooded the basement. In the late 1960s after removing the easily accessible coal, the independent companies closed the mines and abandoned them. Soon the abandoned mine voids began to fill with water. The water picked up minerals including pyrite from the mine and carried them into the nearby stream, polluting it and turning it a distinctive orange color.
True to the community values of their early brothers, the modern day Benedictines of Saint Vincent and other members of the Loyalhanna Mine Drainage Coalition found a way to remove this pollution and restore the health of the stream.
The wetlands located behind the gristmill are completely passive; there are no pumps, motors, electricity or chemicals. By simply using natural processes, the wetlands remove as much as 90% of the polluting iron oxide that is formed when pyrite in the water reacts with oxygen so the stream is fit for wildlife and humans to enjoy.
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History of the Gristmill
Millers of the Gristmill
