Mount Rushmore attracts tons of visitors who ooh and ahh at four towering American heros carved out of a countain. But did you know the project was never completed?
Here’s a photo we took on our trip across country this summer . . .
Impressive, of course! But after we viewed the movie about the monument that went on and on about what a great tribute it is to American ingenuity and tenacity we saw what the original model looked like . . .
What happened? Looks like a job half done! We asked the park ranger why the sculpture was never finished. Worked stopped on the project in 1941 after 14 years because other priorities came up and funding dried up. Neither the taxpayers nor private parties ever came up with funds to complete it. So it was just pronounced completed. The cost: $989,992.32.
Did you know there is a cave behind the carving called the “Hall of Records.” It was intended to house the story of Mount Rushmore but was never completed due to lack of funding as well.
So much for American ingenuity and tenacity. We visited the Crazy Horse Monument down the road before we went to Rushmore, and found it much more interesting. That huge undertaking has taken a lot longer to get going, but at least they are still blasting away.
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Want to build your own Mount Rushmore?
