I say, your sideburns are looking resplendent today, Mr. Van Buren. Mount Rushmore is easily the most famous tourist attraction in the Black Hills, but it's not the only place in the area where you can come face to face with the nation's presidents. To see all of them together, look no further than Rapid City. And, I mean, come on, isn't seeing all 42 former presidents better than seeing just 4 of them? Serious missed opportunity there, Mount Rushmore - you should have left room for 38 more faces up on that mountain!!
Rapid City's presidential statues occupy the corners of 12 intersections in downtown (which, incidentally, is a surprisingly cool area, with lots of neat shops and restaurants) between 4th, 9th, Main, and St. Joseph Streets. Their locations make them really easy to see - you can just start anywhere and make a big circle to see them all and end up right back where you started.
The statues are all life size, right down to Li'l James Madison who was only 5'2" tall, which helps to give you a great idea of what they really looked like. But more than just showing their appearance, the statues actually show you a bit more about who each president was as a person. The various statues are all found in different poses and are in the midst of different activities, which all convey something about the presidency or the personality of each figure. Their true-to-life size and depiction in normal, more casual poses almost gives the feeling that you've just walked up to this person on the street and said hello.
I'll just highlight some of my favorite statues here. I was going to include all of them, but then I thought that would be too many photos for one article, which would take forever to load on your computer, right?
Anyway, if I leave out your favorite president, you can go to this page on Rapid City's website to see photos and a short description of each of them. There's also a map of everyone's locations at the bottom of the page.
One of the most iconic statues is that of Harry Truman. Unless you completely slept through history class, you should recognize his pose from the famous photo of him on the day he was re-elected holding up a newspaper that erroneously announced his defeat.
The statues are all life size, right down to Li'l James Madison who was only 5'2" tall, which helps to give you a great idea of what they really looked like. But more than just showing their appearance, the statues actually show you a bit more about who each president was as a person. The various statues are all found in different poses and are in the midst of different activities, which all convey something about the presidency or the personality of each figure. Their true-to-life size and depiction in normal, more casual poses almost gives the feeling that you've just walked up to this person on the street and said hello.
I'll just highlight some of my favorite statues here. I was going to include all of them, but then I thought that would be too many photos for one article, which would take forever to load on your computer, right?
Anyway, if I leave out your favorite president, you can go to this page on Rapid City's website to see photos and a short description of each of them. There's also a map of everyone's locations at the bottom of the page.
One of the most iconic statues is that of Harry Truman. Unless you completely slept through history class, you should recognize his pose from the famous photo of him on the day he was re-elected holding up a newspaper that erroneously announced his defeat.
Several other statues also depict notable historic events, such as Jefferson's statue, which shows him writing the Declaration of Independence with a grand quill pen.
 |  |
Andrew Johnson, who took over the presidency after Abraham Lincoln's assassination, looks sufficiently overwhelmed and exhausted by the many challenges of his term in office. Chief among these challenges, of course, was to heal the divided nation, as symbolized by the two halves of a torn map he is holding.
 |  |
Another rather unhappy-looking president is Herbert Hoover, who had the misfortune of becoming president shortly before the Great Depression began, and bore much of the blame for it.
Many presidents who rose to fame as military commanders are depicted in their uniforms. William Henry Harrison, a veteran of the War of 1812, is decked out in his fancy uniform, which comes complete with cape and plumed hat. Nice! Ulysses S. Grant is in his Civil War uniform, and stands beside a column listing the battles he fought in. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who served as Allied Commander in World War II and was in charge of the D-Day assault on German-occupied France, is shown standing over a map of the English Channel with one foot on England and the other on France.
 |  |
 |  |
Next we have James K. Polk, who ALMOST led the US to war in the 1840's. One of the major issues of his presidency was a border dispute with the UK regarding the exact location of the border between US and British possessions in the Oregon Territory. Polk won the presidential election on a campaign promise to ensure that the US acquired all the Oregon Territory up to the border with Russian Alaska, which was at a latitude of 54 degrees, 40 minutes. The banner on the barrel next to him reads "54 40 or Fight," which became a popular slogan in the media during his presidency: in other words if the UK didn't agree to set the border there, it would mean war. Many Americans, however, including many Congressmen, didn't relish the idea of going to war with the world's strongest power, and Congress negotiated for the border we still have today at latitude 49 degrees.
There are also a few noteworthy presidential firsts depicted in the statues: Franklin Roosevelt was the first president to address the American people over the radio, and William Howard Taft, an avid athlete in his youth, was the first president to ever throw the opening pitch of the major league baseball season.
 |  |
Many of my favorite statues are those that convey a president's personality, and not just his accomplishments. All sorts of different types of people have become president over the years, and that range is reflected in the statues. On one side of the spectrum is James Monroe, who was incredibly charming and gregarious, was always impeccably dressed and always carried a cane. He is shown raising his hat as if to wish you a good morning. Millard Fillmore, on the other hand, was very introverted. He is depicted sitting with his finger marking his place in a book and looking slightly perturbed that you have interrupted his reading.
 |  |
Then of course there's Richard Nixon, who is doing his best Montgomery Burns impression like the mastermind he is.
Some presidents are depicted engaging in some of their favored leisure activities. Calvin Coolidge, who enjoyed horseback riding (and even vacationed in the Black Hills), is shown wearing cowboy boots and a stetson hat and standing next to a custom saddle that was made for him by a Rapid City saddlemaker. Rutherford Hayes was a very active man, and went for a walk every day; his statue shows him mid-stride. Benjamin Harrison, a very introverted man, enjoyed finding a bit of quiet solitude while feeding the birds in his garden.
 |  |
 |  |
Two of the presidents, Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, are depicted with their young sons.
 |  |
I'll close this post with our most recent ex-president: George W. Bush. It's one of my favorite statues, actually. And not for any reason other than I think he just looks cool in his long coat, carrying his dog under his arm, and giving the thumbs up to passing motorists. It's like he and the dog are out for an evening stroll and he sees you drive by and he's like "Heeey, that's some niiiiice driving!" Thanks, W!
And that's that! I feel like I learned something today, don't you? Who says travel can't be educational!
Visiting Rapid City? You should also check out the Museum of the American Bison!
RSS Feed
