When was Mount Rushmore named?

South Dakota State Historian Doane Robinson had the idea to carve the likenesses of western heroes in the Black Hills to promote tourism. His idea was to carve the Needles.

Doane Robinson contacted Gutzon Borglum about a carving in the Black Hills. Gutzon Borglum chose Mount Rushmore instead because of the poor quality of granite in the Needles. Gutzon also thought it would be better for the sculpture to have a more national focus and chose the four presidents to carve on Mount Rushmore.

Construction on the mountain began on October 4, 1927 and was stopped on October 31, 1941.