Amazing Photographs of the Making of the Mount Rushmore From 1935-1941

The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota, in the United States.

Sculpted by Danish-American Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln Borglum, Mount Rushmore features 60-foot (18 m) sculptures of the heads of four United States presidents: George Washington (1732–1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), and Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865).
After securing federal funding through the enthusiastic sponsorship of “Mount Rushmore’s great political patron,” U.S. Senator Peter Norbeck, construction on the memorial began in 1927, and the presidents’ faces were completed between 1934 and 1939. Upon Gutzon Borglum’s death in March 1941, his son Lincoln Borglum took over construction. Although the initial concept called for each president to be depicted from head to waist, lack of funding forced construction to end in late October 1941.

Washington's nose. Photograph from Rapid City Chamber of Commerce/National Geographic.

Dynamite faces. Photograph from Rise Studio/National Geographic.

Granite vision. Photograph from Rapid City Chamber of Commerce/National Geographic.

High wires. Photograph from Rise Studio/National Geographic.

Facial finishing Photograph from Rise Studio/National Geographic.

Moveable houses. Photograph by Edwin L. Wisherd, National Geographic.

Dangerous jobs. Photograph from Rapid City Chamber of Commerce/National Geographic.