Located near Keystone, South Dakota, this historical site was sculpted by Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln. The entire memorial covers 1,278.45 acres and is 5,725 feet above sea level. Doane Robinson (a South Dakota historian) first came up with the idea to carve the likenesses of famous people into the Needles to attract tourists. Borglum rejected the Needles and decided to carve Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt (Teddy), and Lincoln into Mt. Rushmore. Construction began in 1927 and the faces were completed between '34 and '39. The original concept was to depict each president from head to waist, but lack of funding caused construction to end in October of '41. The U.S. National Park Service now manages the memorial that attracts approximately 2 million people annually.
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