Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota

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Mount Rushmore was named after a New York lawyer, Charles E. Rushmore, who was in the Black Hills in 1885 researching mining claims for area mining companies. The official name change occurred on July 4, 1930 by the U. S. Board of Geographic Names.

The sculpture of the presidents took about 14 years to complete. Work began on October 4, 1927 and ended on October 31, 1941. Considering delays from weather and interrupted funding, the actual time spent working was a total of less than 6 1/2 years.

The idea of sculpting Mt. Rushmore was that of the State Historian. His original suggestion involved massive sculptures on the granite spires along the Needles Highway. His original plan was to sculpt Lewis and Clark, Buffalo Bill Cody, Chief Red Cloud and others. Gutson Borglum preferred carving the presidents so that the sculpture would be of national significance.

The four presidents chosen were representative of 150 years of American history, including the birth, growth, preservation and development of this country. For Borglum, Washington represented the BIRTH of our country since he was our first president. Jefferson symbolized EXPANSION since he was largely responsible for the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The sculptor chose Lincoln to embody the PRESERVATION of the Union of states in confronting the challenges of the Civil War. Theodore Roosevelt represented the DEVELOPMENT of our country with the construction of the Panama Canal.

The sculpture cost $989,992.32, nearly double it's original estimate. The mountain is made of mostly granite.

The dimensions of the heads is as follows: Face: approximately 60 feet from chin to the top of the head.
Eye: 11 feet across. Nose: 20 feet (except for Washington's which is 21 feet). Mouth: 18 feet across. The faces are scaled to a figure 465 feet tall and is 185 feet across. Not one person perished on the job of sculpting this monument.

Borglum surveyed the Black Hills and chose Mt. Rushmore since it faced southeast toward the morning sun. He wanted natural lighting throughout the day. He also felt the hardness of the granite would make a better monument. Yearly inspections of the memorial are done and repairs are made whenever necessary in order that the monument will be standing for many thousands of years.

Mt. Rushmore is quite a place. Any citizen of this country should visit this place at least once in their lifetime. The avenue of the flags is extremely impressive as you enter the memorial. Your state flag is there, look for it when you go.

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Photos

The Avenue of the Flags
Every state has a flag here. Look for yours when you go.

Mt. Rushmore
The presidents are from left to right: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln

The profile
This is the profile of George Washington in another location down the road from the entrance to the park.

The granite spires
Here are some of the granite spires that surround Mt. Rushmore.