The Monongahela Incline opened on May 28, 1870, and it was the first incline built for carrying passengers. German immigrants had crowded into Pittsburgh for factory jobs, and the only space left was on the steep hills. Prussian-born engineer John Endres designed it, with help from his daughter Caroline, one of the first women engineers in the United States.
On opening day, 944 fares were collected. On the second day, 4,174 people rode it. Each car carries 23 passengers up a track 635 feet long, climbing about 369 feet at a grade of roughly 35 degrees.
Steam power gave way to electricity in 1935. It is the oldest continuously operating funicular in the United States, and one of only two survivors of the 17 passenger inclines Pittsburgh once had. The other is the nearby Duquesne Incline.