The Monongahela Incline, opened on May 28, 1870, links Pittsburgh’s riverfront with Mount Washington and is the oldest continuously operating funicular in the United States. Built during the city’s industrial expansion, it gave workers, many of them German immigrants living on the hill then called Coal Hill, a practical route between home and the factories below. Designed by John Endres, with help from his daughter Caroline Endres, it quickly drew heavy ridership and became Pittsburgh’s first passenger incline of its kind. One of only two surviving passenger inclines from the city’s original 17, it remains both a working transit line and a notable historic landmark.

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania · USA