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Mount Rushmore symbolizes the ideals of freedom, democracy and the American dream in the four 60-foot granite faces. This mountain carving of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln draws over three million visitors a year.
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. Rushmore's granite faces tower 5,500 feet above sea level. The carvings on Mount Rushmore are scaled to men who would stand 465 feet tall. Each head on Mt. Rushmore is as tall as a six-story building. More that 800 million pounds of stone were removed from Mount Rushmore while carving the presidents.