Well known structures - Mount Rushmore - Information for small kids
Can you imagine using the side of a mountain to carve out faces? Well this is exactly what you will see when you visit Mount Rushmore.
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the side of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota, USA.
- Where will you find Mount Rushmore?
- What is a monument?
- To what/who does Mount Rushmore give honour?
- Why is it called Mount Rushmore?
- How many people worked on these carvings?
- What did they use to carve the faces?
- Why did they decide to make these carvings?
Doane Robinson was a historian that lived in the area of the mountain and he wanted to promote tourism to the town of South Dakota and decided that a mountain with faces would do the trick.
Gutzon Borglum was the sculpture chosen to do this, but he died before they were finish and his son had to take over.
The four faces belongs to the 4 presidents that were active in America in the first 130 years of American history and they are Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt.
The carving on the mountain carried on for 14 years from 1927 to 1941.
Over 400 people worked on the carvings and they had to climb 506 steps every day to get to the top. They used dynamite to shoot out some of the parts of the mountain and believe it or not, nobody was killed in the 14 years they made the carvings.
Mount Rushmore standing 5,725 ft (1,745 m) above sea level was chosen due to its grand location, quality granite and because it faced southeast so enjoyed maximum exposure to the sun which helped maximize working hours.
The original plan was to carve each figure up to their waists, but they ran out of money and stopped at the faces. The cost was more than 980 ooo dollars and if you think how long back this was build, imagine how much money that was then.
The dynamite was used to take out big chunks of the granite and then they used a technique called 'honeycombing' to shape it the way they wanted it to look. About 450 000 tonnes of rock was removed - just imagine how much effort were put into this.
Every year trained mountain climbers help with maintaining the sculptures that they stay in good shape for many years to come. They clean it and fill cracks.
Each of the heads are about as high as a 6 story building. Can you imagine how wonderful it must be to see this structure in real life. Would you like to visit Mount Rushmore? I know I sure would like to.
The monument is 60 foot (18 m) high. Each of the President's heads are the height of a six-story building, their eyes are 11 ft across, their noses are 20 ft long and their mouths 18 ft wide.
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