Mount Rushmore Trivia

By Paula Green

On Monday, February 16, we will observe Presidents' Day. To celebrate this meaningful occasion, let’s honor the four notable U.S. Presidents depicted on a renowned monument. Mount Rushmore, located in Keystone, South Dakota, invites visitors to experience history face-to-face.

To see how Mount Rushmore became iconic, let’s explore its fascinating beginnings. In 1923, historian Doane Robinson proposed a Black Hills sculpture to attract tourists. His idea was indeed successful because Mount Rushmore now draws nearly 3 million visitors annually.

South Dakota commissioned Danish-American sculptor Gutzon Borglum to oversee the mammoth-sized project. Carving of Mount Rushmore began on October 4, 1927, and continued until 1941. More than 400 men carried out the construction. Remarkably, no one died during the building of the monument.

Mount Rushmore features the faces of U.S. presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. Each leader was chosen for their major contributions. 

Washington, because he was our first president and led the 13 colonies to independence. Jefferson was an author of the Declaration of Independence and doubled the nation’s size through the Louisiana Purchase. Roosevelt expanded international commerce by completing the Panama Canal and creating national parks. Lincoln kept the Union together and freed the slaves.

Mount Rushmore is 500 feet tall. The distance from the top of the head to the bottom of the chin is 60 feet. Each nose is 20 feet long, the mouths are 18 feet wide, and each eye is 11 feet wide. Crews carved Mount Rushmore's faces with dynamite, blasting tons of granite to speed removal. Workers then used drills and other tools for finer details.

The original plan for the monument was to depict each president in full, not just their faces. Borglum’s vision was to carve each man from head to waist with hands. However, because of budgetary constraints, the plans were changed to focus solely on the presidential faces.

Having dug into Mount Rushmore trivia, let's see if we can rock this presidential query. Put on those thinking caps; it's time to get a little trivial.

1.  Which president was carved first on Mount Rushmore?

2.  How many years did it take to complete Mount Rushmore?

3.  Under which President of the United States did the construction of the monument begin in 1927?

4.  The monument was completed in 1941, during the term of this U.S. President, who was a distant relative of Theodore Roosevelt.

5.  A Hall of Records is carved into the monument behind which one of the four presidents?

6.  Out of these four presidents, he is the only one to ever have visited South Dakota.

7.  The crew spent 18 months carving this President’s face, they discovered the granite was 

too weak. They had to blast it off and start over in a different location.

8.  The mountain is named after Charles E. Rushmore. He was a lawyer from this heavily

populated northeastern state.

9.  Mount Rushmore’s entrance displays 56 flags, which represent the states, one district, three territories, and two commonwealths. It is called _____ of Flags.

10.  Mount Rushmore appears in the final segment of this 1959 Alfred Hitchcock film, which starred Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint.

11.  The 2004 movie National Treasure: Book of Secrets shot scenes from Mount Rushmore.

What actor starred in this film about John Wilkes Booth?

12.  When 90% of Mount Rushmore was complete, sculptor Borglum died. His son took over the project. He shares a name with which one of these presidents?

13.  Although it never came to fruition, in 1937, a bill was introduced to Congress to add the image of this women’s rights leader to the monument. 

14.  In 1991, this U.S. president held a Mount Rushmore dedication ceremony on the 50^th 

        anniversary of the monument. 

15.  What activity takes place at Mount Rushmore each night from dusk until the park closes?

Answers: 1. Washington 2. 14 years 3. Calvin Coolidge 4. Franklin Roosevelt 5. Lincoln 6. Roosevelt 7. Jefferson (was moved to the other side of Washington) 8. New York 9. Avenue 10. North by Northwest 11. Nicholas Cage 12. Lincoln 13. Susan B. Anthony 14. George H.W. Bush 15. it’s illuminated (lit up)

Source: luigimountrushmore.com/mt-rushmore-faq/, www.travelsouthdakota.com/trip-ideas/surprising-facts-about-mount-rushmore, www.thoughtco.com/interesting-facts-about-mount-rushmore-1779326