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By Winkelvi – Wikimedia

Top 15 Facts about the Mount Rushmore

Originally published by Lilian in March 2021 and updated by Charity K in August 2022

Mount Rushmore is located in the Black Hills of Keystone, South Dakota. On it are the famous sculptures of four American presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.

The giant monument celebrated its 80^th anniversary in 2021. About 3 million people visit Mount Rushmore Memorial park each year. 

The dark side of the monument is that it was marred with controversy in its initial stages. There was a tiff between the native Indian tribes and those in support of the monuments.

The incomplete gigantic statues of America’s great presidents remain to be a tourist magnet to both locals and tourists.

There is more about Mount Rushmore. Here are the top 10 facts about it.

1. It is not as big as it appears in pictures

By Winkelvi – Wikimedia

Impressions created by photographs and videos make the mountain seem big.

However, on a close look, the mountain is not that big. The carved monuments on Mount Rushmore give an impression of it being massive.

The heads of the presidents depicted in the monument are only 18 meters tall. They are less than a ninth of the height of the Washington Monument, which towers at 169 meters (555 ft).

Despite the small size, Mount Rushmore is still a sight to behold.

2. The local Indian tribe opposed the sculpting of Mount Rushmore

This national monument was not spared of controversy and opposition. The Lakota Sioux Native American tribe was strongly against cutting into the sacred Black Hills.

This Native American tribe were opposed to putting the faces of men who supported the killing of their fellow tribesmen on the same mountain.

Despite their campaign and criticism, the project was given the green light.

The Sioux tribesmen had climbed the mountain to protest. They stayed there for three months and only came down due to bad weather.

3. Dynamite was used in carving the granite on Mount Rushmore

Photo sourced from Wikimedia

Part of the sculpting of the figures of the four presidents on Mount Rushmore was done by blowing up dynamites.

About 450,000 tons of stone was removed from the side of the mountain during construction. This process of using the dynamites was called honeycombing.

It made the work of the men with chisels and jackhammers easier by 90%.

4. About 400 workers built the sculptures

After the lead sculptor had achieved the desired outline of the sculptures, 400 workers were brought to the mountain to finish u the sculptures.

They hung on steel cables and not a single soul was lost during the entire 14 years of the project. The carving started in 1927 and ended in 1941.

Unfortunately, many of the workers inhaled silica dust which led them to later die from the lung disease silicosis. 鈥�

5. The massive sculptures were the brainchild of historian Doane Robinson

Photo of Doane Robinson sourced from Wikimedia

South Dakota historian Doane Robinson is credited with conceiving the idea of carving. The idea was to make South Dakota a tourist magnet.

His initial plans were to have the sculptures on the needles around Mount Rushmore.

This never came to be because the needles were weak and were strongly opposed by the Sioux tribe as it was their sacred ground.

He consulted Gutzon Borglum who was a sculptor. Borglum chose Mount Rushmore because it faced the southeast and was exposed to the sun.

6. Rushmore is not its original name

Mount Rushmore is known to the Lakota Sioux as “The Six Grandfathers” or “Cougar Mountain”.

American settlers referred to it by different names such as Cougar Mountain, Sugarloaf Mountain, Slaughterhouse Mountain and Keystone Cliffs.

This mountain is on the route that Lakota leader, Black Elk, took during his pilgrimage that finished at Black Elk Peak.

The United States asserted control over the area during a series of military campaigns from 1876 to 1878.

Later on, three men, David Swanzey, Bill Challis and Charles E. Rushmore, visited the area for hunting expeditions. Rushmore joked about having the mountain named after him.

His wish was granted in 1930 when the United States Board of Geographic Names officially recognized the name “Mount Rushmore鈥�.

7. The sculptures on Mount Rushmore are unfinished

By Rise Studio – Wikimedia

Mount Rushmore is actually unfinished, in that each of the presidents was meant to also have a carved body.

Borglum died before the project was completed and the funding ran out, so only the head of each president was carved.

The original monument that Borglum envisioned was incredibly ambitious.

He had also planned to have a staircase from the rubble at the base to a great hall of records behind the sculptures.

A plaster model of what the sculptures ought to have looked like once finished is all that is left. He had changed the model more than 9 times.

8. There is a cave behind the monuments on Mount Rushmore

A cave known as the ‘Hall of Records’ is hidden behind the monument.

It contains a vault of 16 porcelain enamel panels with the text of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, biographies of the 4 presidents and Borglum, and the history of the U.S.

The plan was to have a staircase that would allow the public to access the hall. This plan was shelved due to a lack of funding. Only a tunnel remains.

9. The sculptures of the four presidents represent the first 130 years of the nation鈥檚 history

By Winkelvi – Wikimedia

The Memorial is made up of four American Presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln who represent the first 130 years of American history.

They were chosen for their momentous contribution to the founding, expansion, preservation, and unification of the country.

George Washington was chosen because he was the nation鈥檚 founding father.

Thomas Jefferson was chosen because he was the president who signed the Louisiana Purchase and authored the Declaration of Independence.

Theodore Roosevelt was chosen because he represented conservation and the industrial blossoming of the nation.

Abraham Lincoln was chosen because he led America through the Civil War and believed in preserving the nation at any cost.

10. Other than attracting tourists to South Dakota, Mount Rushmore was considered sturdy by the lead sculptor

South Dakota is full of mountains, but Rushmore stood out for specific reasons.

It had the toughest granite that could withstand dynamite and a rigorous sculpting process. The sun exposure to the southeastern side made it more appealing.

11. There Is A Center For Visitors at Mount Rushmore

Photo by Wikimedia Commons –  

In 1957, Harold Spitznagel and Cecil Doty decided to design the original visitor center. It was an effort to improve the visitor facilities at national parks and monuments across the country. 

It took ten years to redevelop the center which was completed in 1998.  The redevelopment included the Lincoln Borglum Museum, the sidewalks, and the presidential trail. 

12. Maintenance and Cleaning of Mount Rushmore

The maintenance of the memorial takes the efforts of mountain climbers to monitor and seal cracks annually, not to mention that the memorial is not regularly cleaned due to budgetary constraints. 

However, on July 8, 2005, Alfred K盲rcher, a German manufacturer of pressure washing and steam cleaning machines, conducted a free cleanup operation that lasted several weeks, using pressurized water at over 200 掳F (93 掳C).

13. Mount Rushmore is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Photo by Wikimedia Commons –

On October 15, 1966, Mount Rushmore was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A 500-word essay giving the history of the United States by Nebraska student William Andrew Burkett was selected as the college-age group winner in a 1934 competition.

The essay was placed on the Entablature on a bronze plate in 1973. In 1991, President George H. W. Bush officially dedicated Mount Rushmore.

14.  Proposal to add other former Presidents and Susan B. Anthony to the Sculpture

Photo by Wikimedia Commons –

The sculpture was not yet complete, and a bill in Congress supporting the addition of women’s rights activist Susan B. Anthony failed. When the sculpture was completed in 1941, the sculptors said that the remaining rock was not suitable for additional carvings.

This stance was shared by RESPEC, an engineering firm charged with monitoring the stability of the rock in 1989. However, proposals for additional sculptures have been made regardless.

These include John F. Kennedy after his assassination in 1963, and Ronald Reagan in 1985 and 1999 鈥� the latter proposal receiving a debate in Congress at the time. Barack Obama was asked about his own potential addition in 2008 and he joked that his ears were too large.

According to a survey of political science experts conducted by The New York Times in 2018, Franklin D. Roosevelt is the most popular choice for addition to Mount Rushmore, regardless of party affiliation.

In total, 66% of respondents would choose Roosevelt, followed by Barack Obama at 7% and Ronald Reagan at 5%. Among Democrats, Roosevelt was chosen by 75%, followed by Barack Obama at 11%.

Among Republicans, Roosevelt was chosen by 43%, followed by Reagan at 19%. Among Independents, Roosevelt was chosen by 57%, followed by both Reagan and Dwight D. Eisenhower at 11%.

15. Former President Donald Trump’s interest in Mount Rushmore Inclusion

Donald Trump has on occasion expressed interest in his own addition to the mountain. During a 2017 rally in Ohio, he said “I’d ask whether or not you someday think I will be on Mount Rushmore.  

Trump described the potential addition as his “dream” in various conversations. In August 2020 it was alleged that the previous year, White House aides working for President Donald Trump made contact with Noem the previous year about the process of adding additional presidents, including Trump, to the monument. 

Trump denied the accusation on his official Twitter account, saying he never “suggested it although, based on all of the many things accomplished during the first 3 1/2 years, perhaps more than any other Presidency, sounds like a good idea to me!