On August 10, 1927, President Calvin Coolidge took part in a ceremony marking the formal beginning of the Mount Rushmore project in South Dakota. Although the monument is now one of America’s most recognizable landmarks, the actual carving of the presidential faces would not begin until nearly two months later.
MOUNT RUSHMORE, S.D. — On this day in 1927, President Calvin Coolidge traveled to South Dakota’s Black Hills for a ceremony marking the beginning of an ambitious project that would eventually transform a granite mountain into one of the most famous monuments in the United States.
Sculptor Gutzon Borglum had envisioned carving enormous portraits of American presidents into Mount Rushmore. During the August 10 ceremony, Coolidge delivered an address supporting the project, and ceremonial drilling helped mark its official launch.
But the presidential faces were not yet being carved.
According to the National Park Service, actual carving work began on October 4, 1927, nearly two months after Coolidge’s visit.
The project would ultimately depict four presidents — George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln — selected by Borglum to represent different periods in American history.
Creating the monument was an enormous undertaking. Hundreds of workers participated over the years, using dynamite, drills and other equipment to remove massive amounts of granite from the mountain.
Work continued for approximately 14 years, from 1927 until 1941. Borglum died in March 1941, and his son Lincoln Borglum helped oversee the final months of the project.
Nearly a century after that August ceremony, Mount Rushmore remains one of the most recognizable landmarks in the United States — and it all began with a vision, a mountain and a project that had yet to carve its first presidential face.
Sources: National Park Service; Today in History (@TodayinHistory on X)