What Are Some Facts About Mount Rushmore?

Here are some facts about the structure and carvings on Mount Rushmore:

The sculptures on Mount Rushmore of the presidents’ heads are 60 feet tall.
The order of the heads going from left to right are: Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln.
The person who came up with the idea of making huge sculptures of famous people in the side of a mountain to promote tourism was Doane Robinson.
The sculptor for the project was Gutzon Borglum. When he died in March of 1941, his son Lincoln Borglum stepped in to finish the job.
Construction began in 1927 and was finished in 1941. Originally, the sculptures of each president were to be carved from the waist up, but funding ran out.
Originally, the plan was to make the carvings on Needles, which are granite pillars.
Borglum thought they were too thin and would not be suitable.
Another reason he picked Mount Rushmore was because of the southeastern exposure which provided many hours of sunlight.
The Mount Rushmore National Committee was authorized on March 3, 1925 and President Coolidge ordered that other than Washington, the other three presidents needed to be two Republicans and one Democrat.
The total cost of the project was $ 989,992.32. Area covered by the whole monument is 1,278.45 acres and it sits at an elevation of 5,725 feet.

Construction of Mount Rushmore

Here are some interesting facts concerning Mount Rushmore’s construction:

It took 14 years and 400 workers to sculpt Mount Rushmore.
The four presidents were picked because of their part in preserving our country and expanding its territory.
Before it was finished, the mountain was taken over by the National Park Service and it has been in charge of it since then.
The completion dates and subsequent dedications of the sculptures are: Washington in 1934, Jefferson in 1936, Lincoln in 1937, and Roosevelt in 1939.
Another interesting fact about Mount Rushmore is there were no fatalities during construction.
There is a chamber located in a canyon that is behind the carvings. In it is a vault that has 16 panels of porcelain enamel.
On these panels are the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, biographies of Borglum and the four presidents, and a history of the United States.
By 1998, remodeling and new construction provided a Visitor’s Center, many sidewalks, the Presidential Trail, and the Lincoln Borglum Museum.
In 2005, the memorial was cleaned using water under high pressure.
Regular maintenance is performed by mountain climbers who inspect the monument for cracks and seal them when they are found.

Any Mount Rushmore facts should include information about the history of the mountain.

Mount Rushmore was named after a New York lawyer named Charles E. Rushmore during an expedition in 1885.
Other names of Mount Rushmore picked by settlers have been: Sugarloaf Mountain, Cougar Mountain, Keystone Cliffs, and Slaughterhouse Mountain.
Before it was Mount Rushmore, it was called “Six Grandfathers” by the Lakota Sioux Indians.
It was part of a spiritual journey that Black Elk, a Lakota leader, took that ended at Harney Peak.
In 1877, the United States seized control of that area after the Great Sioux War of 1876 - 1877.
Many still dispute that claim made because of the previous 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie where control of the Black Hills had been given to the Lakota permanently.
In 1971, the American Indian Movement organized an occupation of Mount Rushmore called Mount Crazy Horse.
John Fire Lame Deer, who was a holy man of the Lakota tribe, placed a prayer staff on top of the mountain.
It was put there as a symbolic shroud over the faces of the presidents until the treaty between the Lakota people and the United States is honored.

So, now you know lots of facts about Mount Rushmore.