How many people lost their lives during the carving of Mount Rushmore?
Mount Rushmore is located in South Dakota and is named after New York lawyer Charles E. Rushmore. Gutzon Borglum sculpted four presidents into the southeastern face of the mountain over a period of 14 years between October 1927 to October 1941. Likenesses of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt were carved into rock. Despite dangerous working conditions due to dynamite blasting, not even one of the 400 workers lost his life on the project.
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49 Comments
George Oliver Prince
As far as I'm concerned, they selected the right four presidents
Tim Faucheux
Went there last fall............very cool to see in person.
Spencer Young
These builders really rocked
Richard D. Boyle
I am happy to learn that the answer was zero.
Cheryl Love
Corey Taylor, I’m so glad.
Wyla Reedy
How many got injured or handicapped? Swept under the rug.
jimsclads
Bev Schlosser, and I recall one dying from falling during maintenance so maybe a time/date could be included.
It’s like saying no one died in the electric chair before they turned on the electricity.
Corey Taylor
Sadly, Borglum did not live long enough to see Rushmore completed, but his son, a fellow sculptor, finished the project. There was a proposal once to add President Ronald Reagan's face to the sculpture, but geologic experts unfortunately have stated that the mountain could not withstand any further large-scale carving.
Mallory
Nice place to visit
Bev Schlosser
Re Mt Rushmore: During the blasting prior to the carving some men were killed. During the actual carving no lives were lost. Kind of a tricky question. I live about 10 miles from this site..
Ed Taber
kleenoslo, Chill out, it's just a big rock. The worst loss of life during that era was the 800+ who died of silicosis building a tunnel through pure silica in West Virginia. They worked it 'dry' so they could get it done before FDR and the 'New Dealers' 'brought in more stringent job safety laws, the same laws the Federal Government avoided in building Hoover Dam.
vasily tchaikovsky
some of workers died later of silicosis ,caused by the dust (lung condition). The same as 9/11problem .Interesting Q
Kimberley Wood
Went there in October 2004. Amazing place!
Michael Garmaise
Guessed 4, but am glad to be wrong.
Bob Bracegirdle
Didn’t know that!
Ronald Filkowski
got it wrong and I am glad I did
Steven Ernest Scott
Interesting that nothing is mentioned of the deaths of workers from silicosis {a lug condition}, from the dust that was breathed in during the carving of the granite.
Vaughan Smith
I bet they achieved that with no Work Health & Safety Officer appointed and no formal risk assessments recorded. Food for thought.