Why Keystone, South Dakota is more interesting than Mount Rushmore itself

How 400 Carvers Revived Dead Keystone, South Dakota

When Mount Rushmore took shape from 1927 to 1941, a town came back to life. Keystone, South Dakota had been dead since 1903 when the Holy Terror Mine shut down.

Then 400 workers moved in, renting old mining shacks for as little as $5 a month. Some got free housing just for fixing up abandoned cabins.

Life was tough – no running water, weekly baths in metal tubs, and lights that cut off at 11 PM sharp. Yet these workers built more than faces in stone.

They formed a tight community with the “Rushmore Memorial Drillers” baseball team that twice made the state tournament. The story of these carvers still echoes through Keystone today.

Keystone Became A Ghost Town After The Mining Bust

Keystone hit rock bottom when the Holy Terror Mine closed in 1903.

The once-busy mining town fell into a deep money crisis, with empty buildings and locals struggling to pay bills. This created a weird chance – housing prices dropped to dirt-cheap levels.

Old miners’ homes sat empty, going for just $5 to $15 monthly rent.

No one knew this little ghost town would soon become “Home of the Carvers” as hundreds of workers showed up to build one of America’s biggest art projects.

Workers From All Walks Of Life Flocked To The Mountain

Almost 400 men and women came to Keystone between 1927 and 1941 to work on Mount Rushmore. Drilling started on October 4, 1927, kicking off a project that lasted 14 years.

Most workers settled in Keystone with their families, making a close community. Many came from mining jobs, bringing useful skills with drills and explosives.

Others were cowboys, farmers, and local workers looking for steady jobs during the Depression. The mixed group shared one goal – carving four presidents into Black Hills rock.

Five Dollars Got You A Dirt Floor And Log Walls

Harold “Shorty” Pierce, a winchman on the project, paid just $5 a month for a small log cabin near Etta Mine. His family of five kids lived in the simple home with its dirt floor.

Some workers got even better deals, living in empty shacks rent-free if they fixed them up. Several families often packed into single homes to save money during hard times.

The cheap housing came with plenty of problems for the carvers and their families.

Saturday Night Baths Were A Weekly Luxury

The carvers lived without most basic comforts we now take for granted. Running water?

No way. Indoor toilets?

Not a chance. Families carried water from shared wells and used outhouses all year, even during brutal South Dakota winters.

Saturday nights meant bath time, with family members taking turns in metal tubs filled with heated water. Power cost a steep 15 cents per kilowatt-hour and the town lights shut off at 11:00 PM every night.

This nightly blackout made fridges useless, so families kept food fresh using old methods.

Carvers Earned Double The Minimum Wage

Mount Rushmore workers got 55 cents per hour for their risky work.

This pay looked pretty good next to the federal minimum wage, which started at just 25 cents hourly in 1938.

The steady money made these jobs very wanted during the Great Depression when millions of Americans couldn’t find any work. Most carvers needed extra jobs during winter months when mountain work stopped.

They worked as handymen, farmers, or took odd jobs around Keystone until spring came back.

Drillers Dangled 500 Feet Above Ground With Heavy Equipment

Carving the mountain meant facing real dangers every day.

Workers hung from rope chairs 500 feet above the ground, using jackhammers that weighed up to 75 pounds.

They placed dynamite to blast away big chunks of rock, then used their special “bumping” method for the detail work.

The men worked through hot summers and freezing falls, rushing to finish as much as they could before winter stopped work.

Wind, rain, and lightning added to the risks, forcing workers to grow brave while hanging high above the ground.

Baseball Brought The Community Together On Weekends

Lincoln Borglum, son of artist Gutzon Borglum, started the “Rushmore Memorial Drillers” baseball team to boost community spirit.

He hired good players including 17-year-old Nick Clifford, who pitched and played right field. The team did really well, making it to the State Amateur Baseball Tournament two years in a row.

Weekend games turned into big social events for the carvers’ community.

Families gathered to cheer for their team, enjoy picnics, and forget about the hard times of Depression life for a few hours.

Winter Meant Finding New Jobs Until Spring

Harsh South Dakota winters shut down the Mount Rushmore project each year. Snow, ice, and below-zero temps made working on the open mountain face impossible.

Men rushed to find other work around Keystone while waiting for spring to come back to the mountain. Some fixed equipment during winter, while others took completely different seasonal jobs.

This yearly cycle created a unique pattern for the community, with workers and families adjusting to the seasonal nature of their main income.

Not A Single Worker Died Despite Extreme Dangers

Mount Rushmore’s safety record stands as an amazing success. Not one worker died during the entire 14-year carving period, despite the clear dangers.

Men worked with explosives daily, hung hundreds of feet up, and dealt with falling rocks and bad weather. The project created special safety rules for the unique challenges of mountain carving.

Workers watched out for each other, building a safety culture that stopped deadly accidents throughout the massive job.

Women Kept The Community Running Behind The Scenes

Women played key roles in the Mount Rushmore carvers’ community.

They ran households without modern comforts, carrying water, cooking on wood stoves, and washing clothes by hand. Some women worked as cooks, cleaners, and support staff for the project.

They formed community networks for childcare and help, supporting each other through sickness, births, and family crises.

Women organized social gatherings, holiday parties, and church events that kept spirits up during tough times.

The Carvers Left A Legacy That Outlasted The Monument

Work on Mount Rushmore wrapped up in 1941 as America entered World War II.

Many carvers put down permanent roots in Keystone, creating a multi-generational community that continues today. Their descendants still tell stories of the project that transformed both a mountain and a town.

Nick Clifford, the baseball-playing carver who joined the crew at age 17, became the last surviving worker.

He lived to 98, passing away in 2019 after decades of sharing firsthand accounts of life in the carvers’ community with visitors from around the world.

Visiting Keystone, South Dakota

You can explore the carvers’ community history at the Lincoln Borglum Visitor Center at 13000 SD-244 in Keystone.

The center shows exhibits about workers’ living conditions during the Depression and displays memorabilia from the Rushmore Memorial Drillers baseball team.

Watch a 14-minute film about the nearly 400 workers who built the monument. Visit the seasonal Sculptor’s Studio from late May through September, and walk the 0.6-mile Presidential Trail for close-up monument views.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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