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In Pictures: 95 years for Mount Rushmore National Memorial
By Tom Adkinson
October 7, 2022
KEYSTONE, South Dakota – Construction began 95 years ago – Oct. 4, 1927, to be precise – on one of the most memorable sculptures in the world, Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota. If any place in America warrants the label of “iconic,” it is this massive work of art that pulled the faces of four U.S. presidents out of the side of a mountain. Here’s why sculptor Gutzon Borglum chose them: George Washington (the most prominent face) to represent the birth of the country; Thomas Jefferson to represent growth of the nation; Theodore Roosevelt to represent the country’s development; and Abraham Lincoln to represent preservation of the nation.
The finished product
Mount Rushmore’s faces were completed between 1934 and 1939, and the original plan called for the images to depict the presidents from head to waist. Work ended in late 1941 as funds dried up and World War II loomed. Visitation in 2021 was 2,525,868, according to the National Park Service. Image by Tom Adkinson
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An early aerial view
Nearly 400 men and women worked on the colossal Mount Rushmore project. According to the National Park Service, workers climbed 700 stairs to the top of the mountain each day just to reach the time clock and punch in. Those who worked directly on the faces sat in bosun’s chairs suspended on 3/8-inch-thick steel cables. Frightened or not, they were making $8 a day during the Great Depression. Image courtesy of the Mount Rushmore Society
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Two out of four
George Washington and Abraham Lincoln emerged first. Dynamite was used until only three to six inches of rock was left for workers to remove, according to the National Park Service. The next step was for drillers and carvers to drill holes close together, producing sheets that looked like honeycomb that could be removed by hand. The finished faces are about as smooth as a sidewalk. Image by the National Park Service
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Right on the nose
A worker dangling in a bosun’s chair inspects the honeycomb pattern that will require hand work to smooth out. The view looks out to the flatter land east of the Black Hills. Out of sight, but only about 75 miles away, is Badlands National Park, another National Park Service property. There are seven National Park Service units in the Black Hills region, including Devils Tower in Wyoming. Image by the National Park Service
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Crazy Horse Memorial
Barely 20 miles from Mount Rushmore, another heroic sculpture is emerging, this one privately funded. It is the Crazy Horse Memorial, a massive undertaking designed to be the biggest sculpture in the world. As work began in 1948, Chief Henry Standing Bear of the Lakota people explained its importance: “My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know that the red man has great heroes also.” Image by Tom Adkinson
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Trip-planning resources: NPS.gov/moru, BlackHillsBadlands.com and CrazyHorseMemorial.org
(Travel writer Tom Adkinson’s book, 100 Things To Do in Nashville Before You Die, is available on Amazon.com.)
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