Houston's Answer to Mount Rushmore? Two Presidents, Two Texans, and a Freeway.

In Houston, Texas, if you're stuck in traffic on I-45, you might just find yourself staring down the chiseled nostrils of Abraham Lincoln. Because apparently, that's where we are now.

Welcome to "Mount Rush Hour," a pocket-sized park that punches above its weight in public art. It features four colossal busts, standing 18 feet tall on marble bases, illuminated nightly. Two are familiar presidential faces; the other two are Texas political legends. They silently oversee an estimated three million vehicles daily, which, if you think about it, is both impressive and slightly terrifying.

This monumental traffic stop is the brainchild of local sculptor David Adickes, who donated the collection in 2012. Adickes, who sadly passed away in 2025 at the ripe old age of 98, didn't just wake up one day and decide to sculpt giant heads. Oh no. This was a man with a mission.

His obsession began after a road trip past the original Mount Rushmore. He wondered what it would be like to see such sculptures, not from a distant viewpoint, but up close. This thought spiraled into a decade-long project where he crafted over 150 presidential heads. The man even reportedly went to movie theaters just to study the backs of old men's heads, ensuring anatomical accuracy. Dedicated, or slightly unhinged? You decide.

While four of his giants guard the Houston freeway, the rest of his presidential posse found various, shall we say, creative homes. Forty-two more preside over his old studio on Nance Street. You can also spot his other works around Houston, including a rather iconic Beatles sculpture at 8th Wonder Brewery. As for the remaining hundred or so presidential noggins? They're reportedly scattered between a recycling facility in Virginia and various RV parks and motels across North and South Dakota. Because nothing says "road trip" quite like stumbling upon a giant fiberglass Rutherford B. Hayes.