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Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota, United States

Mount Rushmore National Memorial, located near Keystone, South Dakota, is a monumental granite sculpture by Gutzon Borglum (1867-1941). The Presidential Memorial represents the first 150 years of the history of the United States of America with 60-foot (18 m) sculptures of the heads of former United States presidents (left to right): George Washington (1732-1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), and Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865). The entire memorial covers 1,278.45 acres (5.17 km2) and is 5,725 feet (1,745 m) above sea level.

Fun Facts about Mount Rushmore

Sculptor Gutzon Borglum began drilling into the 5,725-foot mountain in 1927, at the age of 60.

Creation of the Shrine of Democracy took 14 years and cost a mere $1 million.

The carvings on Mount Rushmore are scaled to men who would stand 465 feet tall.

The presidents' noses are 20 feet long, each mouth 18 feet wide and the eyes are 11 feet across.

Rushmore's granite faces tower 5,500 feet above sea level.

More that 800 million pounds of stone were removed from Mount Rushmore while carving the presidents.

The workers had to climb 506 steps daily to get to the top of Mount Rushmore.

Fireworks at Mount Rushmore

American pride. There's no shortage of that commodity in the Black Hills of western South Dakota. Imagine celebrating Independence Day with Fireworks at Mount Rushmore. There has a lot of amazing firework displays at the memorial and people from around the world have gathered to watch. The common idea for a long time was that every true American should get to see the Mount Rushmore fireworks at least once in there lives. It was well worth it. Not only were the fireworks over the Monument spectacular, but the entire day made you realize how lucky and proud you are to be living in the United States. Other than fireworks they also had F-16, B2 and B1 flyovers. Not, sure if they still do.

Unfortunately fireworks are no longer a part of the celebration at Mount Rushmore. The fireworks were discontinued in 2011.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial is managed by the National Park Service, a bureau of the United States Department of the Interior. The memorial attracts approximately three million people annually.