Most People Don't Know There's A Little Part Of Mt. Rushmore In North Dakota
By Leah|Published March 28, 2017
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Leah
Author
Leah moved to North Dakota when she was 12 years old and has traveled from the Red River Valley to the badlands and many places in between. She loves small-town life and currently enjoys living on a small farm in the ND prairie. She's always had a passion for writing and has participated in novel writing challenges such as NaNoWriMo multiple times. Her favorite part about this job is recognizing small businesses that deserve a boost and seeing the positive affect her articles can have on their traffic, especially in rural areas that might have otherwise gone overlooked.
North Dakota often gets overshadowed by its southern counterpart that has the world famous attraction, Mt. Rushmore. This carved mountain gets thousands of visitors each year and is one of the most well known monuments in the entire world. But did you know that North Dakota has its own giant president head from South Dakota?
Most everyone is familiar with Mt. Rushmore, the monument in South Dakota.
Mt. Rushmore is a mountain carved with the faces of four former US presidents. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and of course Theodore Roosevelt peeking out from the right middle.
At one point nearby the famous mountain, there was a place called the Presidents Park.
Presidents Park in Lead, South Dakota was supposed to be a tourist attraction to lure in those visiting Mt. Rushmore. It had giant concrete busts of all the presidents up to the 43rd, all in the same style as the mighty mountain carvings. That's a lot more than just four! Unfortunately, it closed in 2010 and the fate of all these huge statues was undetermined.
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A hotel owner in Watford City, North Dakota heard about the closing park and swooped in to buy one of the statues.
The statue he bought was Theodore Roosevelt. This made a lot of sense since his hotel was called the Roosevelt Inn, which it now sits in front of. It fit in perfectly! Additionally, North Dakota was Roosevelt's favorite state, so having his bust moved here was obviously the best option. It had to be trucked all the way from South Dakota.
Weighing eight tons and standing at 20 feet tall, the bust of Teddy certainly turns heads - real ones, that is, not stone. It's as if someone cut him directly out of Mt. Rushmore and brought him here. Like Presidents Park, the owner of the Roosevelt Inn hopes to draw tourism to the North Unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. That unit is considered one of the least visited national parks in the entire country.
Teddy stands strong year round and attracts visitors who might have otherwise not known he was there.
Other than having this unique attraction, the Roosevelt Inn is a lovely hotel to stay at that’s full of Theodore Roosevelt themed decorations. You can visit it yourself – even if just to see the bust – at this location:
600 2nd Ave SW, Watford City, ND 58854
There are more unusual roadside attractions in North Dakota to be discovered. Find more here!
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