Mount Rushmore

sculpture · presidents · South Dakota

Carved from granite. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum and his son Lincoln carved four massive 60-foot-tall president heads directly into the rock face of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills between 1927 and 1941.

Four presidents chosen. George Washington represents the nation's foundation, Thomas Jefferson its expansion, Theodore Roosevelt its development, and Abraham Lincoln its preservation.

Called Shrine of Democracy. Gutzon Borglum gave the monument this special name because it honors the leaders and ideals that built America.

Millions visit yearly. More than two million people travel to Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota each year to see this incredible work of art.

Tough work carved in. Workers used dynamite to blast away 90 percent of the rock, then chisels and drills to carve the fine details of each president's face.