In 1958 the state of Georgia purchased Stone Mountain and its surrounding land from private owners. A Stone Mountain Memorial Association was created and a competition organized to elicit designs to memorialize the southern leaders of the Civil War in a sculpture on the side of the mountain.

Walker Hancock from Massachusetts won the competition and decided to complete the mountain carving originally designed by Augustus Lukeman in 1925 which had been abandoned when the mountain’s owners refused to renew the lease for the project.

Work resumed in 1964 using a new technique utilizing thermo-jet torches which enabled the carvers to remove tonnes of stone every day. For eight years the carvers toiled on the design which would depict Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson.

Before you look at the photos, let me set the scene as to the scale of the project that was undertaken. The carving measures 90 feet by 190 feet and covers three acres. It is carved 400 feet above the ground and is recessed 42 feet into the mountain.

The carving is actually much larger than it appears from. Workers could easily stand on a horse’s ear or inside a horse’s mouth to escape a sudden rain shower. A dedication ceremony for the Confederate Memorial Carving was held on May 9, 1970. Finishing touches to the masterpiece were completed in 1972.

The figures were completed with the detail of a fine painting. Eyebrows, fingers, buckles and even strands of hair were fine-carved with a small thermo-jet torch.