OLDEST PERSON: Evelyn KOZAK, 108
She was born on Aug. 4, 1899, in New York City. Today she boasts the distinction of being the oldest living person in Pittsburgh. Her name is Evelyn Kozak, and for the past three years, she's lived at the Charles Morris Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. "So much hoopla!" she says. "I am not entitled to all this kowtowing. Old age does not necessarily equate with wisdom."
Ask her the secret to a long life, and her eyes twinkle: "You should really be more specific. There are so many facets to my life - how can you expect me to hone in one thing? I guess the answer would be my children. They were my life's work, and I am so proud of them." Mrs. Kozak had five children; two are deceased. (There are also 10 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren!) She has no birthday plans for her 109th birthday - "Everyone does the planning for me. I just enjoy!"
Mrs. Kozak's life follows an amazing historical timeline: She remembers the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 ("I think it all boils down to not enough life boats") and the 1918 influenza epidemic during which 25 million people succumbed worldwide ("I pulled through from this flu so I must have been strong"). She's quite proud of a photograph she has of her father with President William Taft.
She cites her Judaism as another major component of her strength, and she credits her parents with instilling in her the importance of always doing the right thing. This, she says, is her credo. Mrs. Kozak loves to help others and tends to give her possessions away. She laughs when she recalls that one of her daughters bought her a monogrammed watch so that "I couldn't give it to anyone unless their name was Evelyn!"
Right: Site of the Oldest River Bridge! Image courtesy of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
SITE OF THE OLDEST RIVER BRIDGE IN PITTSBURGH: Smithfield Street Bridge
Lewis Wernwag built a covered wooden bridge, called the Monongahela Bridge, at the present site of the Smithfield Street Bridge in 1818. It spanned 1,200 feet of the Monongahela River and cost $102,000. Pedestrians were charged a toll. This bridge was destroyed during the great fire of 1845 - it was reduced to ashes in a mere 10 minutes.
One year later, the bridge was rebuilt as a multi-span suspension bridge by John Augustus Roebling, who later designed the Brooklyn Bridge. For those who collect minutia: The main wire-rope cables were 7.5 inches in diameter, 22 feet apart and made of seven strands of 700 wires each. Increasing traffic caused the second Smithfield Street Bridge to sway heavily, eventually leading to its closure. In 1883 it was redesigned by Gustav Lindenthal as a lenticular bridge, a bridge structure named for the lens shape the opposing arches make. Originally a toll bridge, it was purchased by the City of Pittsburgh in 1896 for $1,152,583 and the tolls were removed. The Smithfield Street Bridge initially only had one lane, but in 1889 a second deck was added, doubling its size. The deck contained a double track of rails for horse-drawn streetcars. In 1899 the deck was widened more to accommodate electric streetcars; the rails were removed between 1994 and 1996 when the bridge was completely renovated and the former rail space was opened for cars. At 1,184 feet long, the Smithfield Street Bridge - a registered National Landmark - is the longest bridge of its type and the oldest through-truss bridge in the United States.
Left: Oldest Operating Car! Image courtesy of the Frick Car and Carriage Museum
OLDEST OPERATING CAR: 1898 Panhard Tonneau
We were steered to the Frick Car and Carriage Museum, where a ketchup-red 1898 Panhard Tonneau greets guests. The four-speed car was bought by Howard C. Heinz, the son of Henry Heinz, founder of the food company, in 1900 in Paris. (He actually bought two of the same cars; the green one has since disappeared.) The car, made by Panhard et Levassor, was one of the first autos on the streets of Pittsburgh and was quite sophisticated for its day, with aluminum gear-box casings, pneumatic tires, a front-mounted vertical engine and a steering wheel. A gift to the Frick Art & Historical Center from the estate of the late G. Whitney Snyder, a car collector from Sewickley Heights, the car was last driven in the 1960s and, yes, it still works. No word on how many gallons per mile.
OLDEST BANK: Dollar Bank
Dollar cashes in on this one. Founded by Charles Colton as Pittsburgh Dollar Savings Institution and opened on July 19, 1855, the bank boasted first-day deposits that tallied up to a whopping $53. Three years later, on Sept. 4, 1858, it was renamed Dollar Savings Bank. (It dropped "Savings" in 1984.)
The current location at Fourth Avenue and Smithfield Street opened in 1871 and is still quite the sight. The Baroque-style building boasts two Roman Corinthian columns; at their bases are two sculpted lions, stone statuary that architects Isaac H. Hobbs and Sons designed to represent the safety of the customers' money. One fact the bank still likes to brag about is that, during the Depression, the bank never closed its door; instead, $1 million in cash was brought out of the vaults to prove the availability of customers' funds. On Jan. 20, 1976 (just six months before the building was declared a historic landmark), Dollar introduced Pennsylvania customers to Pay-By-Phone, the first bill-payment system of its kind in the state and the second in the country.
OLDEST INCLINE: Monongahela Incline
Looking to get high? There's no better way than the Monongahela Incline, built by noted engineers Samuel Diescher and John Endres at a cost of $50,000, and the oldest continuously operating funicular in the country - it just turned 138 years young in May. It's one of two survivors of 77 once operating in the city (the other is the Duquesne Incline). Both are owned by the Port Authority of Allegheny County.
Passengers step into the red and yellow cars with hand-carved cherry interiors from either the lower or upper station, just as they did when the incline opened on May 28, 1870. The 635-foot trek up to or down from Mount Washington takes about three minutes; on a clear day the view is breathtaking - no wonder USA Weekend rated it as "the second most beautiful view in America." There are about 1,700 commuters each day on average. On weekends, about 5,000 people ride the local and national landmark.