Mount Rushmore National Memorial South Dakota

Artist Gutzon Borglum commenced the carving in 1927. It took about 400 workers (including his son, Lincoln) and 14 years to complete the faces of the four U.S. presidents he selected because they served during significant periods in the nation’s history.

From expansive Grand View Terrace, view those famous faces: George Washington, the first U.S. president, who led the Revolutionary War to gain independence from Great Britain; Thomas Jefferson, third president, and the author of the Declaration of Independence; Theodore Roosevelt, 26^th president, who spurred economic development as the country entered the 20^th century; and Abraham Lincoln, the 16^th president, who worked to preserve the union during the Civil War and led efforts to abolish slavery.

Park visitors will want to stop in the Sculptor's Studio and see Borglum’s 1/12^th scale model of the mountain. Inside the Lincoln Borglum Visitor Center – named after Borglum’s son, who oversaw the project after his father died and later became the park’s first superintendent – view a movie and museum exhibits about the work.

Stay into the evening in the summer months to hear a ranger talk about the site’s significance and join about 2,500 others at a lighting ceremony in the park’s amphitheater.