Mount Rushmore

Interesting Facts About Mount Rushmore

1. The idea originated in 1923 with South Dakota historian Doane Robinson who hoped it would increase tourism to the state. It was created by John Gutzon de la Mothe Borghum, who had earlier carved Confederate leaders on Stone Mountain, Georgia.  He chose Mount Rushmore because of the solid granite face.  He envisioned Mount Rushmore to be a “Shrine of Democracy”.  He chose Washington to represent our independence and the start of the republic, Jefferson to represent democracy and expansion, Lincoln to represent the preservation of the Union and equality of citizens, and Roosevelt to represent our expanding role in world politics and economics.
2. Construction began in 1927 and it took 14 years. 6 ½ years carving and 8 ½ years waiting for funding and better weather.  It cost around $1 million, but because of the Depression, Congress was tight with the money.
3. It was finished just months after the death of Borglum, by his son Lincoln.
4. The work was done by 600 artisans supervised by the temperamental Borglum. He often fired and then rehired workers.  90% of the carving was done by dynamite.  There was not a single fatality!
5. Each head is about 6 stories tall. Originally, the plan was to show the men from the waist up, but the funding did not allow this.  To give some perspective, each eye is 11 feet across.
6. In 1937, there was a grass-roots push to add Susan B. Anthony, but Congress decided that would be too expensive.
7. Jefferson was originally to be on the other side of Washington, but blasting revealed quartz under the granite. The work was dynamited away and the carving was resumed on the opposite side. 
8. Young boys, called “call boys”, would sit on the side of the mountain and relay orders to slow down or speed up the work.
9. Borglum secretly carved a tunnel to become the “Hall of Records which would contain valuable documents like the original Constitution. When Congress found out it ordered him to stop the project and direct the money into just the heads.

https://matadornetwork.com/trips/75-surprising-facts-mount-rushmore/

http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/engineering/mountrushmore.html

https://www.thoughtco.com/interesting-facts-about-mount-rushmore-1779326

Mount Rushmore – NYC Public Library