Mount Rushmore looks unreal - the colossal sculpture is often used in adventure films such as National Treasure: Book of Secrets and Mars Attacks! and is an iconic part of American history.
The popular tourist site is considered a national treasure as the faces of some of the US's most beloved and influential presidents,George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln are carved into the mountain in South Dakota.
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But it turns out that behind those famous faces is a secret chamber that is too dangerous to enter.
Credit: RoadTrippes
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It all started with the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, who had an artistic vision that not only involved the sculptures of the presidents on the outside, but going into the caves in the mountain to carve American history onto the cave walls. Unfortunately, Borglum died in 1941 - but his plans didn't end with him.
The secret chamber, now known as the mysterious Hall of Records, was created. It took almost 50 years, but by 1998, the chamber was sealed. Inside there are 16 porcelain enamel tablets engraved with the most important texts in the history of the US; the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the story of the presidents, and a biography of Borglum. The tablets are in a box, in a vault, with a 1,200 poundgranite stone keeping it safe. As it's so close to the cliffs and near the giant stone heads, public access isn't allowed. Even Nicholas Cage couldn't film there!
Credit: National Park Service
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It's not a time capsule, though. The plan is for the tablets to stay hidden for thousands of years so that our descendants (or possibly aliens/robots) will discover them and learn about American history.
Whatever!
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Words Laura Hamilton
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