Mt. Rushmore National Memorial (SD)

The memorial was created by sculptor Gutzon Borglum (born in Idaho in 1867.) Mount Rushmore National Memorial is host to almost three million visitors a year. The sculpture took 14 years to complete at a cost of almost one million dollars. Minus delays due to inclement weather and funding issues, the actual working time was about 6.5 years. The sculpture is complete, though not finished to the artist's intentions since he died in Chicago in 1941 following surgery. Borglum chose these 4 presidents for 4 specific reasons: Washington represented BIRTH of our country, Jefferson represented EXPANSION for the Louisiana Purchase, Lincoln represented PRESERVATION for maintaining the union, and Teddy Roosevelt represented DEVELOPMENT with the construction of the Panama Canal.

Over 90% of Mount Rushmore was carved by using dynamite. Dynamite blasts removed approximately 450,000 tons of rock from the mountain. Approximately 400 workers labored at Mount Rushmore during the carving process from October 1927 to October 1941, and although this was extremely dangerous work, there were no lives lost.

Dynamite was used until only three to six inches of rock was left to remove to get to the final carving surface. At this point, the drillers and assistant carvers would drill holes into the granite very close together. This was called honeycombing. The closely drilled holes would weaken the granite so it could be removed, often by hand. Here is a close-up of Washington's face (and part of Jefferson's to the left.) Note how deeply cut into the cliff the eyes are.


And here is Lincoln's close-up. (A mole is located on his right cheek and measures 16 inches square.)


Below is a view from the talus slope created by the blasting. Each face is about 60 feet from chin to top of head, eyes are 11 feet across, mouths 18 feet across, and are scaled to a person who is 450 feet tall. The sculptures actually measure 185 feet across and 150 feet tall.