Mount Rushmore is a granite carving of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Lincoln in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum and nearly 400 workers carved it from 1927 to 1941, mostly with dynamite, and nobody died. Behind Lincoln’s head is an unfinished tunnel, the Hall of Records.
Mount Rushmore quick facts
- About 90% of Mount Rushmore was carved with dynamite.
- Jefferson was first carved on Washington’s right, then blasted away in 1934.
- A vault of 16 history panels was sealed behind Lincoln’s head in 1998.
- The Lakota name for the mountain means the Six Grandfathers.
- Its mountain goats descend from six goats that escaped in the 1920s.
Mount Rushmore at a glance
Mount Rushmore is one of the most famous monuments in the world. Four giant faces of US presidents look out from a granite cliff in South Dakota. But the mountain holds more surprises than most visitors realise.
This guide covers how it was carved, the hidden tunnel behind Lincoln’s head, the plans that were never finished and the mountain goats that live there. It also explains why the mountain means something very different to the Lakota people. Most facts come from the US National Park Service, which runs the memorial.
| Mount Rushmore at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Location | Black Hills, South Dakota, near Keystone |
| Presidents | Washington, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Lincoln |
| Sculptor | Gutzon Borglum, finished by his son Lincoln Borglum |
| Carving | 4 October 1927 to 31 October 1941 |
| Workers | Nearly 400, and nobody died |
| Size of each face | About 18 m (60 ft) tall |
| Visitors (2024) | 1,850,329 |
| Lakota name | Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe, the Six Grandfathers |
Where is Mount Rushmore?
The National Park Service says Mount Rushmore is carved into a granite mountain in the Black Hills of South Dakota. It is near the small town of Keystone.
The mountain face is about 152 m (500 ft) high. The memorial around it covers about 517 hectares (1,278 acres). The National Park Service took it over in 1933.
The rock itself is very old. Eos, a magazine of the American Geophysical Union, says the Black Hills granite formed about 1.8 billion years ago from molten rock deep underground.
Whose idea was it?
The idea came from South Dakota’s state historian, Doane Robinson. The National Park Service says he suggested a carving in the Black Hills on 28 December 1923.
Robinson’s first plan was very different. He imagined carving heroes of the American West and Native Americans on tall rock spires called the Needles.
The sculptor he hired had other ideas. Gutzon Borglum chose a different cliff and changed the subject to four presidents.
Why these four presidents?
The National Park Service explains that Borglum chose each president to stand for part of the nation’s story.
| President | What he stands for | Why |
|---|---|---|
| George Washington | Birth | He led the new nation at its start |
| Thomas Jefferson | Growth | He wrote the Declaration of Independence and bought the Louisiana Territory |
| Theodore Roosevelt | Development | He backed the Panama Canal and fought big business monopolies |
| Abraham Lincoln | Preservation | He held the nation together in the Civil War and worked to end slavery |
The faces were dedicated one at a time. The National Park Service says Washington came first, on 4 July 1930. Jefferson followed on 30 August 1936, with President Franklin D. Roosevelt watching.
Lincoln was dedicated on 17 September 1937. Theodore Roosevelt came last, on 2 July 1939.
The sculptor, Gutzon Borglum
Gutzon Borglum was born in March 1867 near Bear Lake, Idaho. The National Park Service says he was the son of a Danish immigrant. He studied art in Paris and became friends with the famous sculptor Auguste Rodin.
Before Mount Rushmore, Borglum worked on a huge carving at Stone Mountain, Georgia. The National Park Service says he was fired from that job and smashed his models.
Borglum did not live to see Mount Rushmore finished. He died on 6 March 1941 in Chicago, just before his 74th birthday. The work stopped a few months later.
His son finished the job
Borglum’s son was named Lincoln, after the president. The National Park Service says Lincoln Borglum was born on 9 April 1912. He first came to the Black Hills with his father in 1924, aged 12.
He started as an unpaid helper. By 1935 he was chief pointer, measuring where each cut should go. By 1938 he was in charge of all the work.
After his father died, Lincoln Borglum finished the carving. He then became Mount Rushmore’s first National Park superintendent, from 1941 to 1943.
How the faces were carved
The National Park Service says real carving began on 4 October 1927. President Calvin Coolidge had spoken at the dedication on 10 August that year.
About 90% of the carving was done with dynamite. The South Dakota Department of Tourism says the blasting removed about 450,000 short tons of rock. That is roughly 410,000 tonnes.
The dynamite could not do the fine work. Carvers blasted to within 8 to 15 cm (3 to 6 inches) of the final surface. Then they smoothed the rock with hand tools called bumpers, until it was “as smooth as a sidewalk”.
The final drilling took place on 31 October 1941. So the whole job took 14 years. The South Dakota Department of Tourism says only about 6 of those years were spent actually carving. The rest were delays, mostly from weather and lack of money.
The workers who carved it
The National Park Service says nearly 400 men and women worked on the project. Their jobs included drillers, blacksmiths, housekeepers and “call boys”, who passed signals from the top of the mountain.
The work was dangerous. Carvers were lowered over the cliff in “bosun chairs”, hung from steel cables just 1 cm (3/8 inch) thick. To get to work, they climbed about 700 steps every day.
They earned about $8 a day. And in all 14 years of work, the National Park Service says, nobody died.
How big is it, and what did it cost?
The South Dakota Department of Tourism says each face is about 18 m (60 ft) tall. That is as high as a six-storey building. Each nose is about 6 m (20 ft) long.
The whole memorial cost $989,992.32, the tourism department says. The National Park Service adds that Congress agreed to pay up to $250,000 at first, as long as the rest came from private donors.
The plans that were never finished
Mount Rushmore was meant to be much bigger. The South Dakota Department of Tourism says the original design showed the presidents down to their waists, not just their heads.
Borglum also planned a giant inscription called the Entablature. The National Park Service says it would have had letters about 1 m (3 ft) tall, in a panel shaped like the Louisiana Purchase. Only the year “1776” was ever carved.
He dropped the idea partly because the words would be too hard to read from the ground.
Even Jefferson moved. The National Park Service says he was first carved on Washington’s right. The rock there was poor, so in 1934 the carvers blasted him away and started again on Washington’s left.
The secret room behind Lincoln
Behind Lincoln’s head is an unfinished tunnel called the Hall of Records. The National Park Service says Borglum planned a room 24 by 30 m (80 by 100 ft) there. It would store the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and other records.
Workers blasted a tunnel about 21 m (70 ft) deep between July 1938 and July 1939. Then Congress told them to work only on the faces, and the tunnel was left unfinished.
On 9 August 1998, a vault was finally sealed in the tunnel floor. It is a teak box inside a titanium case, under a granite capstone. It holds 16 porcelain enamel panels telling the story of the carving, the four presidents and the USA.
Visitors cannot go inside. The National Park Service describes the Hall of Records as a time capsule for the future.
The Six Grandfathers: a Lakota view
Long before the carving, the mountain had a name. Eos says the Lakota name is Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe, the Six Grandfathers. In Lakota belief, the Six Grandfathers are the spirits of north, south, east, west, the sky above and the Earth below.
The Lakota call the Black Hills Paha Sapa, which means “hills that are black”. The National Park Service says the Black Hills are an important spiritual and cultural place for many Native American nations. The memorial consults 21 associated tribal nations.
Eos notes that for many Lakota people, Mount Rushmore is a painful symbol of land that was taken. For many other visitors, it stands for freedom. Both views are part of the mountain’s story.
Who owns the Black Hills?
The National Archives explains the history. In the Fort Laramie Treaty of 29 April 1868, the United States recognised the Black Hills as part of the Great Sioux Reservation.
In 1874, an Army expedition led by George Custer found gold in the Black Hills. Miners flooded in, against the treaty. The US government took the Black Hills in 1877.
On 30 June 1980, the US Supreme Court ruled that the Black Hills had been taken unlawfully. Cornell University’s Legal Information Institute records the ruling. It said the Sioux were owed payment with interest.
The National Archives says ownership of the Black Hills is still disputed today.
Crazy Horse Memorial
Another giant carving is being made in the Black Hills. The Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation says sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski started it in 1948.
Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear asked for it so that “the whole world knows that Native Americans have great heroes, too”. Crazy Horse’s face was dedicated in June 1998. It is about 26.7 m (87 ft 6 in) tall, and the carving is still being worked on.
Visiting Mount Rushmore today
The National Park Service says the memorial had 1,850,329 visitors in 2024. That is the latest full-year figure it has posted. In 2023 it had 2.43 million visits, and the record year was 2021, with 2,525,868.
Visitors walk along the Avenue of Flags towards the viewing terrace. Eos reports that since 2008, 12 fibre-optic sensors have checked the rock for movement.
The granite wears away very slowly, at about 2.5 cm (1 inch) every 10,000 years. So the faces should last a very long time.
The mountain goats
Rocky Mountain goats live on the granite around the memorial. But the National Park Service says they are not native to the Black Hills.
They come from six goats that Canada gave to nearby Custer State Park in 1924. The goats escaped from their pens. Today more than 200 mountain goats live in the area, along with mule deer, marmots, chipmunks and red squirrels.
To learn more about the country Mount Rushmore celebrates, read our USA facts for kids.
Three things people get wrong
Myth: workers died carving Mount Rushmore. The National Park Service says nearly 400 people worked on the mountain for 14 years. Not one of them died.
Myth: there is a secret room full of treasure behind Lincoln. The Hall of Records is an unfinished tunnel. The National Park Service says it holds only a 1998 vault of 16 history panels.
Myth: the mountain was empty land before the carving. Eos says it was a sacred Lakota place called the Six Grandfathers. The National Archives says the 1868 treaty had recognised the Black Hills as Sioux land.
Did you know? Only the year “1776” was ever carved of Borglum’s giant planned inscription, the Entablature.
Try it
Look at the table of presidents. If you could add a fifth face, who would you choose and what would they stand for? Then think about how the Lakota might see the mountain.
Knowledge check
What is hidden behind Lincoln’s head?
Show answer
An unfinished tunnel called the Hall of Records, holding a 1998 vault of 16 panels.
How many workers died carving Mount Rushmore?
Show answer
None, in 14 years of work.
Frequently asked questions
Who carved Mount Rushmore?
Sculptor Gutzon Borglum designed Mount Rushmore and led nearly 400 workers. After he died in 1941, his son Lincoln Borglum finished the carving.
How long did it take to carve Mount Rushmore?
Carving began on 4 October 1927 and ended on 31 October 1941, about 14 years. Only around 6 of those years were spent actually carving.
Why were these four presidents chosen?
The National Park Service says Washington stands for the nation’s birth, Jefferson its growth, Theodore Roosevelt its development and Lincoln its preservation.
Is there a secret room in Mount Rushmore?
Yes. The Hall of Records is an unfinished tunnel behind Lincoln’s head. A vault of 16 history panels was sealed inside it in 1998.
What do the Lakota call Mount Rushmore?
The Lakota name is Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe, the Six Grandfathers. For many Lakota, the carving is a painful symbol of land taken from them.
How many people visit Mount Rushmore?
The National Park Service says Mount Rushmore had 1,850,329 visitors in 2024. The record year was 2021, with 2,525,868 visitors.
Sources
- US National Park Service: carving history — dates, workers, dynamite and safety; its Hall of Records, presidents, Borglum, Entablature, tribal nations, statistics and mammals pages were also used
- South Dakota Department of Tourism: surprising facts — face size, rock removed, cost and the original waist-high design
- National Archives: the Fort Laramie Treaty — the 1868 treaty, the 1874 gold rush and the 1877 seizure
- Cornell Legal Information Institute: United States v. Sioux Nation — the 1980 Supreme Court ruling
- Eos (American Geophysical Union): the Six Grandfathers and four presidents — the Lakota name, the granite and rock monitoring
- Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation: the mountain — the Crazy Horse carving; its home page was also used
