On the Road Again (Rapid City: The City of Presidents)

The morning after reaching Rapid City, my wife and I were up bright and early to venture to the downtown area to see the statues of presidents that line the corners on Main and St. Joseph's streets.

Lincoln and son

As noted in previous posts, seeing the statues was one of the reason we made the trip. We wanted to see Mount Rushmore, and after reading about the statues in a magazine, that sealed the deal to make the thousand-mile drive to South Dakota.






The project, made with private donations, was started in 2000 and the statues are by artists with South Dakota ties. Truly impressive. Something the city can be proud of as well as doing something that can be shared and treasured with future generations.

Nixon

Eisenhower

And we were not disappointed by what we saw walking up and down the two streets . The statues certainly complement the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln on Mount Rushmore.

Kennedy 

The life-size bronze statues are unique and capture the essence of the the former presidents -- from Harry Truman holding the Chicago Tribune declaring Thomas Dewey the winner of the 1948 election to John F. Kennedy holding his son's hand to Abraham Lincoln seating with his son. The details are amazing.

Truman

I'm not going to show images of all the presidents, just a sampling of the statues. You can see them all by clicking here or visiting my Facebook page. Better yet, go to Rapid City and see them in person. It's worth the trip. Maybe by the time you arrive the statue of Barack Obama will be erected.




Here are several other statues and city scenes from this lovely frontier city that is the hub of many activities in western South Dakota. 


 

Next stop: Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse Memorial

Until the next time....