Mount Rushmore National Memorial

by Ben Prepelka

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Mount Rushmore National Memorial

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Ben Prepelka

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Presidents Day, honoring the most famous presidents United States on the 3rd Monday in February, was never a holiday implemented by the U.S. Government. Officially its Washington's Birthday honored at the federal governmental level.
Sculptor John Gutzon de la Borglum proposed a much grander plan to celebrate his favorite presidents. And when Doane Robinson had read about Borglum's Stone Mountain carving, he invited John Borglum to South Dakota. Borglum may have realized that Stone Mountain would only achieve regional success, so he offered an idea of national interest ... the U.S. Presidents. Borglum first suggested carvings of Washington and Lincoln for the Black Hills site. In time Borglum also suggested that a friend and conservationist President Theodore Roosevelt to be added as well, considered a hero of the Spanish-American War, builder of the Panama Canal and a naturalist. Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, was added, rounding out the theme of Manifest Destiny.
Although the presidential stone carvings at Mount Rushmore are familiar to most of the world, for those having never visited the national monument, the Avenue of Flags leads from the entrance to Grandview Terrace. This decorative corridor greets all the monument visitors with a line of 56 flags, including all the American states and territories. Don't miss the Presidential Trail, a half-mile walk that offers spectacular views of America's most famous presidents.

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August 18th, 2023

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