{"nrhp_refnum":"75001609","name":"Duquesne Incline","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"1220 Grandview Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pittsburgh","county":"Allegheny County","state":"PA","lat":40.43919609100004,"lon":-80.01773666499997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-03-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A funicular incline railway on Mt. Washington overlooking downtown Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, opened in 1877 and rebuilt entirely in iron in 1888. It carries passengers up a 400-foot slope using a cable drum and two counterbalanced cars.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the incline is significant for its role in Pittsburgh's hillside housing growth and rapid transit, since mills occupied the riverbanks and residents moved to the surrounding hills. It is also significant for its engineering as one of only two surviving of the seventeen inclines once operating in the Pittsburgh area, and for the work of its builder, Samuel Diescher.","narrative":"Built on Mt. Washington above Pittsburgh, the Duquesne Incline opened in 1877 with wood and iron construction and was rebuilt entirely in iron in 1888. It rises about 400 feet over a length of 793 feet, with two cars moving in opposite directions on a double track, each pulled by steel cables wound on a large drum powered by two 200-horsepower electric motors. Inclines like this one allowed hilltop housing to develop, since the riverside mills left little land for homes. The Duquesne Incline was the fourth such incline built in the city, at a cost of $47,000, and was designed and built by Samuel Diescher, who built or rebuilt ten of the seventeen local inclines. It is one of only two of those seventeen that remain. In 1963 the Port Authority of Allegheny County took it over and leased it back to a preservation society that funded repairs. Commuters and tourists still ride it, with views of the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers.","period_of_significance":"1877-1888","architect_builder":"Samuel Diescher (designer and builder)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"In use; repaired and restored after 1963 when the Port Authority of Allegheny County took it over and leased it to a preservation society.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.158236-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/75001609.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001609/546e6ebf2f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001609/546e6ebf2f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Plastikspork","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Duquesne_Incline_from_top.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Plastikspork</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Duquesne_Incline_from_top.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997804","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duquesne_Incline","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1266663"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/allegheny-county/duquesne-incline-75001609/"}