By 1935, Mount Rushmore was already taking shape, but the real transformation happened over the next six years. These were the years when stone became history.
Work crews drilled, blasted, and carved through solid granite in South Dakota’s Black Hills. The sculptures stood at 60 feet high, which meant every cut had to be exact. Dynamite was the main tool, removing nearly 90% of the rock before the finer carving began. This saved time but demanded precision—one wrong blast could ruin months of work.
Gutzon Borglum, the project’s creator, oversaw everything with a mix of artistry and engineering skill. He wasn’t just designing faces; he was commanding a worksite hundreds of feet in the air. Workers balanced on swinging bosun chairs, hanging from ropes as they chipped away at the stone. Safety nets didn’t exist. If someone slipped, there was no second chance.
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By 1936, Washington’s face was complete and stood as a guide for the others. Jefferson’s face was next, but the original spot cracked beyond repair. Borglum ordered it blasted away and restarted the carving on the opposite side of Washington. This decision cost months of labor but kept the project alive.
In 1937, Roosevelt’s glasses and mustache began to appear. Granite resisted every tool, forcing carvers to use jackhammers and hand chisels to bring out the finer details. By 1939, Lincoln’s solemn gaze emerged from the mountain, finishing the set of four presidential faces.
The work was brutal. Temperatures in the Black Hills swung from scorching summers to freezing winters. Crews of up to 400 men rotated in and out, many of them miners who knew how to handle explosives. Pay averaged 50 cents an hour, a decent wage during the Great Depression, but it came with constant danger.
Borglum’s original plan showed each president from head to waist, with carved inscriptions telling America’s story. That vision never came to life. By 1941, the nation’s focus had shifted toward World War II, and federal funds ran out. Gutzon Borglum died in March that year, leaving his son Lincoln to finish what he could.
In late October 1941, the last drill bit left the granite. The mountain stood unfinished, but the faces were complete. The project had consumed 14 years, over 400,000 tons of removed rock, and countless hours of perilous labor.
