25 Interesting Facts About Mt. Rushmore [Free Fact Cards]

Discover the captivating history and remarkable secrets of Mount Rushmore with our curated list of facts about Mt. Rushmore. From its awe-inspiring creation to the hidden tales behind each carved face, delve into the iconic monument’s rich narrative in a whole new light

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Facts About Mt. Rushmore

1. The idea of creating a sculpture in the Black Hills was dreamed up in 1923 by South Dakota historian Doane Robinson. 
2. Mt. Rushmore was created to find a way to attract tourists to the state.
3. Mt Rushmore is not as big as it appears in pictures. 
4. The heads of the presidents depicted in the monument are only 18 meters tall. 
5. The four presidents represented on Mount Rushmore were chosen to represent pivotal times in American history as well as vital American principles and values.

6. The sculpture’s rate of erosion is estimated at one inch per 10,000 years.
7. There have been zero (0) recorded fatalities during the construction.
8. Mount Rushmore is now visited by nearly 3 million people annually.
9. Mount Rushmore features the faces of four U.S. presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.
10. Dynamite was used in carving the granite on Mount Rushmore.

11. The sculpture was designed by a Danish-American sculptor.
12. 90% of the mountain was carved with dynamite, and more than 450,000 tons of rock was removed.
13. Mount Rushmore has undergone various preservation efforts to maintain its structural integrity and appearance over the years.
14. It stands 5,725 feet above sea level.
15. The Mount Rushmore workers hiked up the mountain with another thing in mind.

16. Mount Rushmore’s construction began in 1927 and took about 14 years to complete.
17. To build it took 14 years to complete and had a total cost of $989,992.32.
18. About 400 workers built the sculptures.
19. Mount Rushmore is located in the Black Hills region of South Dakota
20. The men who worked on the mountain were miners who had come to the Black Hills looking for gold.

21. Mount Rushmore is known to the Lakota Sioux as “The Six Grandfathers” or “Tukáila ákpe” in Lakota.
22. Sadly, the Mount Rushmore project adversely affected the worker’s health. In the duration of their work on the Black Hills, many of them breathed in silica dust. This incident then caused them to die from lung disease silicosis later on.
23. Charles E. Rushmore donated $5,000 toward the sculpting of the mountain that bore his name.
24. Mount Rushmore is actually unfinished, in that each of the presidents was meant to also have a carved body.
25. The Presidential Trail is a 0.5-mile walking trail that offers up-close and different views of each face. If you start the trail from the Sculptor’s Studio, you’ll have to climb 422 stairs.

26. Cave behind the monuments on Mount Rushmore as the ‘Hall of Records’.
27. Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a massive sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota, USA. 
28. Mount Rushmore has become a symbol of American patriotism and democracy.

Do you have even more interesting facts about Mt. Rushmore? Share them with us in the comments! Also, don’t forget to grab your free Mt. Rushmore fact cards to add to your collection!

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