Mount Rushmore

The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore. It features 60 ft (18 m) sculptures of the heads of four United States presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. Construction of the statue began in 1927 and ended ultimately in 1941. This excellent patriotic work attracts more than 2 million visitors every year.

South Dakota state historian Doane Robinson is said to have come up with the idea of creating portraits of famous people in the Black Hills region of South Dakota to promote tourism in the region. Robinson originally wanted to sculpt the statue in the Needles; however, Gutzon Borglum disagreed and chose the larger mountain area, Mount Rushmore. Borglum also decided to sculpt statues related to the country and chose portraits of four presidents to carve into the mountain. After securing federal funding, construction of the memorial began in 1927, and portraits of the four presidents were completed between 1934 and 1939. Although the original idea was to sculpt the four presidents from head to waist, due to lack of funds, the carving work ended in 1941.

Location: South Dakota