The Duquesne Incline

Mount Washington, once known as Coal Hill, was the cradle of incline building in the United States. In the late 1800s, German and Hungarian engineers such as John Endres, his daughter Caroline, and Samuel Diescher, together with the support of families like the Bighams, created more than local transportation. They built America’s inclines. From their work on Coal Hill came the model, the expertise, and the tradition that defined incline building across the nation.

That legacy has not faded. The Society for the Preservation of the Duquesne Heights Incline, formed in 1963, carries it forward with pride. The Society preserves the original machinery, maintains the working line, and retains the technical expertise that first rose out of Coal Hill.

Most of all, it is the community that holds this heritage in its hands. The knowledge, the craft, and the determination that began on Coal Hill in the late 1800s still live here today. It is a tradition that cannot be replaced. Thanks to the community and the Incline builders, America’s Incline and its irreplaceable relics will not die as long as the Society remains to preserve not only the machinery, but something even more important: the expertise, and the tradition itself.