A natural creation that man had no part of. It was known as “Great Stone Face” ; located at Cannon Mountain in Franconia Notch State Park in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
It was discovered in 1805 by road surveyors and was believed that when it was first formed, water inside the cracks in the granite froze and thawed following the retreat of glaciers about 12000 years ago. It has been a State Emblem since 1945.
The face was made of a series of 5 granite cliff ledges 45 feet tall and 25 feet wide. It looked like a jagged face. This formation of the Old Man was around 25,000 years old.
The face fell off and crumbled to the ground May 3rd. 2003. There is now a memorial at Profile Plaza Park. A museum display at the base of Cannon Mountain. Profile Plaza is located at exit 34B off New Hampshire I-93 in Franconia, New Hampshire. To see an artistic view of the Old Man they have placed stones marked with footprints at different heights to stand on so you can look in the sightline from that area to the mountainside where the Old Man was. Several perfectly located steel poles with specific shapes on top have been mounted from that point using those pieces, it looks like the Old Man is still there. The Pillars are what recreated the Old Man.
My husband grew up very near there. We have seen the Original Old Man. We will someday go back and see the recreation.
See pictures below in order:
1: The original Old Man.
2: Visitors stand on the footprints that align with their height to see the Old Man
3. The seven pillars help guests visualize the Old Man
4. This is what the side of the metal sculptures look like. The Old Man had to be viewed a certain way to see the profile.
5. Standing on the paved stones you find your height and look up through the metal poles and the Old Man should appear back on the Mountain.
#newhampshire #oldman #mountain #naturalcreation #greatstoneface #cannonmountain #franconianotchstatepark #whitemountains #retreatofglaciers #stateemblem #face #granitecliffledges #formation #memorial #profileplazapark #museum #pillars #recreated
