Out of the most popular and famous historical landmarks of the US, Mount Rushmore National Memorial stands out for its historical reverence. Bearing the heads of four prominent presidents of the USA, this monument has appeared in several movies, advertisements, spoofs, etc. Located in South Dakota, around three million visitors from all around the world come to see this memorial every year. While the structure is unique in every way, there are several interesting things about Mount Rushmore that many do not know. If you have ever been to this memorial or have been fascinated by just seeing the pictures, enlighten yourself with these interesting Mount Rushmore facts.

Check out the most surprising facts about Mount Rushmore.

• Mount Rushmore is named after a New York lawyer, Charles E. Rushmore, who while visiting the Black Hills in Keystone, inquired the name of this particular mountain. As the mountain had no name, the guide called it Mount Rushmore. People today popularly call it the Presidents’ Mountain.

• Historian Doane Robinson came up with the idea of creating a sculpture in the Black Hills because he wanted to attract tourists to South Dakota.

•The four American presidents on Mount Rushmore are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. They chose these four presidents for their role in founding, expanding, preserving, and unifying the USA.

• Mount Rushmore rises to a height of 5,725 feet, and officials selected this particular mountain for its grand location. Artists carved the presidential sculptures on the granite mountains, believing the high-quality granite would ensure their longevity.

• Officials commissioned renowned Dutch-American sculptor Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln Borglum, to carve the presidents.

• It took 14 years to complete the work. The work on the mountains started on October 4′ 1927 and ended on October 31′ 1941. Unfortunately, Gutzon Borglum died six months before the completion of the project. His son brought the project to fruition.

• Almost 400 workers took part in this massive project. Surprisingly, no worker suffered any major injury or death, in spite of the great height of the mountain and other dangerous conditions.

• Workers removed most of the granite (about 8 million pounds) using a dynamite technique called powder monkey, followed by a process called honeycombing. They used a pointing machine, a tool designed by Borglum, to mark the image of the presidents on the mountain.

• The face of each of the President is same as the height of a six-story building. While their noses are 20 ft long, their eyes are 11 ft across. The width of their mouths is around 18 ft.

• The original plan went through nine changes until the time of completion. The original plan included the image of the presidents from the head to the waist. Due to a shortage of funds, they carved only the presidents’ heads on the mountain.

• Another major change that happened during the construction of the memorial is the position of President Jefferson’s sculpture. However, after months of work, they discovered the rock was too thin and unsuitable. So, they dynamited it and sculpted a new image on the left of George Washington.

• The sculptor wanted to carve a few inscriptions along with the image of the presidents on the mountain. However, they abandoned this plan for two reasons: lack of funding and the fact that it wouldn’t be visible from a distance. Gutzon named these inscriptions Entablature.

• Gutzon Borglum had also planned a Hall of Records just behind the head of Abraham Lincoln. He wanted to create 16 enamel panels to place the greatest historical documents and artifacts of America in the hall. He began the work and dug a 70-foot tunnel into the stone. However, they halted the work due to insufficient funds. They preserve all of them in a teakwood box inside a titanium vault. Nevertheless, efforts to complete the work started in 1998 and today you would find historical and biographical information about Mount Rushmore and the Presidents and several other documents and texts in the hall. They all are preserved in a teakwood box, inside a titanium vault.

• A bill mentioning the need to add the image of Susan B. Anthony, women’s right leader, was introduced to the Congress in 1937. However, Congress rejected the proposal and stuck to the original plan.

• Today, the memorial includes a museum, a visitor centre and the Presidential Trail. There is also the Grand View Terrace, right above the museum, which gives the best view of the four Presidents.

• Erosion would wear away an inch of the memorial every 10,000 years.

Hope these facts about Mount Rushmore National Memorial would have piqued your interest to see this intriguing monument and apply for us visa online. So, do visit South Dakota to view this amazing man-made marvel.