James Lincoln de la Mothe Borglum

Lincoln Borglum was twelve when Mount Rushmore began for him. On September 24, 1924, he went with his father to the Black Hills, where state historian Doane Robinson had asked whether a mountain could be carved; the rock near the Needles proved unsuitable. His father found Mount Rushmore on a second trip in August 1925. Lincoln worked several years without pay, took an hourly wage in 1934, became chief pointer in 1935, and in 1938 superintendent of all work on the memorial. After his father died on March 6, 1941, he carried on as sculptor.

What the plaque says

James Lincoln de la Mothe Borglum Born in 1912 to Gutzon Borglum, sculptor of Mount Rushmore, Lincoln assisted his father on the monument's construction. He oversaw completion after his father's death and served as Superintendent of Mount Rushmore National Memorial until 1944. He traveled extensively in his youth due to his father's commissions, including visits to Woodrow Wilson and the King of Denmark. In 1938, he married Beeville resident Louella Jones and in 1951 they settled in the town where he is fondly remembered for his civic duties. Granite dust from the blasting at Mount Rushmore damaged his lungs. In 1986, he passed away in Corpus Christi and is buried in San Antonio. A very active member of the community, he was appointed to the State Historical Survey Committee and participated in numerous organizations. He bred registered herefords and served as Director of the South Texas Hereford association whose trophy he also designed. He dedicated his time to Beeville with roles on the Public Schools Advisory Board, Rotary Club, Farm Bureau and Girl Scouts. Lincoln served as president of the Bee County Centennial Committee, designed the seal of Bee County, and served as Mayor Pro-tem of Beeville. His work is found at the Beeville Public Library where he also sat on the board. A gifted sculptor, gem carvers frequently consulted him and his art adorns churches in Corpus Christi and Rockport, Beeville Memorial Park Cemetery, Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Lady of Loreto located at the entrance to the Presidio de la Bahia in Goliad and a bust of his father at the Mount Rushmore Visitor Center. His creations pay homage to the great people of our nation and he faithfully served the community of Beeville and the surrounding areas of South-Central Texas. (2016)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lake Corpus Christi State Park — 25 mi
  A lake park in the South Texas brush country above Mathis, on a reservoir of the Nueces, with a Civilian Conservation Corps refectory and more than 200 bird species.
• Zaragoza Birthplace State Historic Site — 28 mi
  A rebuilt stone house beside La Bahía marking where Ignacio Seguín Zaragoza, the general of the Battle of Puebla and Cinco de Mayo, was born in 1829.
• Presidio La Bahía — 28 mi
  A Spanish fort on its third site since 1749, held in turn by filibusters, insurgents and Fannin's Fort Defiance, rebuilt in stone in the 1960s around a chapel that never fell.
• Fannin Memorial Monument — 28 mi
  The 1938 pink granite memorial over the common grave of Fannin's men, shot on the roads out of Goliad on Palm Sunday 1836, the grave itself found again only in the 1930s.

More markers nearby

• First Methodist Church of Beeville — steps away
• First Baptist Church of Beeville — steps away
• The Railroad in Bee County — steps away
• Commercial National Bank — 0.2 mi