New Hampshire's Famous Rock Formation: The Old Man of the Mountain
The Old Man of the Mountain** (aka **"The Profile," "The Great Stone Face"**) was New Hampshire's **iconic natural landmark** — a **40-ft tall, 25-ft wide** series of five granite cliff ledges on **Cannon Mountain** in **Franconia Notch** that, from the north, formed a **perfect human profile** (forehead, nose, lips, chin).
- Discovered: 1805 by surveyors Francis Whitcomb & Luke Brooks.
- Immortalized: Nathaniel Hawthorne ("The Great Stone Face," 1850), Daniel Webster ("Men hang out their signs... but up in the Mountains... God Almighty has hung out a sign... to show that there He makes men.").
- State Symbol: **NH State Emblem (1945)**, license plates, quarters, highway signs, tourism logo.
- Collapse: **May 3, 2003** — freeze-thaw cycles, gravity, erosion caused the forehead/nose section to fall. **Mourned statewide.**
- Memorial: **Profile Plaza** (Franconia Notch State Park) — steel profilers recreate the view. **Old Man of the Mountain Legacy Fund** preserves history.
Though gone, the **Old Man remains NH's defining symbol** — resilience, nature's art, impermanence.
Wanderlust World