Mt. Washington (Pittsburgh)

Mount Washington
Neighborhood of Pittsburgh Former Borough
View of Central Business District from Mt. Washington
Coordinates: 40°25′41″N 80°00′40″W / 40.428°N 80.011°W / 40.428; -80.011Coordinates: 40°25′41″N 80°00′40″W / 40.428°N 80.011°W / 40.428; -80.011
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Allegheny County
City	Pittsburgh
Area
• Total	1.139 sq mi (2.95 km2)
Population (2010)
• Total	8,799
• Density	7,700/sq mi (3,000/km2)

Mount Washington is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's south city area. It has a zip code of 15211 and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by both the council members for District 3 (Central South Neighborhoods) and District 2 (West Neighborhoods).

It is known for its steep hill overlooking the Pittsburgh skyline, which was rated the most beautiful vista in America by USA Weekend (and the best urban vista); its funiculars, the Duquesne and Monongahela Inclines, which are the oldest continuous inclines in the world; and for the row of upscale restaurants paralleling the crest of Mount Washington, the hill upon which the community sits.

In the early history of Pittsburgh, Mount Washington was known as Coal Hill, but Coal Hill was actually on the south bank of the Monongahela River. Easy access to the Pittsburgh coal seam's outcrop near the base of Mt. Washington allowed several mines to operate there. Also, rock was quarried from the hill. Gray sandstone, for example, was quarried at Coal Hill for the second Allegheny County Courthouse.

By 1876, the name had been changed to Mount Washington, and a year later, the view of the City of Pittsburgh was first drawn from Mt. Washington. Virtually all photos of the Pittsburgh skyline are from Mt. Washington, due to the elevation of the hill overlooking the river valley and Downtown Pittsburgh below.

The original switchback trails that wound up the steep slopes of Mt. Washington were barely passable to a team of horses pulling a loaded wagon. Immigrants, predominantly from Germany, settled Mount Washington by the early 19th century and worked in the plants adjacent to the Monongahela River. They became weary of climbing steep footpaths and steps to their homes, from the river valley, after work. They remembered the Seilbahns (inclines) of their former country, and proposals were advanced to construct one or more of them along Coal Hill. The Monongahela Incline was the first of these to be built in 1869–1870. The Duquesne Incline opened to the public in May 1877, and it was one of four inclined planes climbing Mount Washington that carried passengers and freight to the residential area that had spread along the top of the bluff. As the hilltop communities were virtually inaccessible by any other means, many of Pittsburgh's inclines carried horses and wagons as well as foot passengers. All carried some light freight. A third incline, the Castle Shannon Incline, which closed in 1964, also served the hilltop community on Mt. Washington with a lower station at the corner of East Carson Street and Arlington Avenue, just east of the present Station Square Transit Station. This incline was closed by its owner, the Pittsburgh Railways Company, just prior to all of their streetcar and bus routes being taken over by the Port Authority.