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The Old Man of the Mountain, also known as the ''great stone face'', was a series of five Granite cliff ledges on Cannon Mountain in the White Mountains of New Hampshire , USA that, when viewed from the correct angle, appeared to be the jagged profile of a face. The first recorded discovery of the Old Man was in 1805. The outcrop was 1,200 feet above Profile Lake , and measured 40 feet tall and 25 feet wide. It collapsed on May 3rd of 2003. HISTORY The formation was carved by Glacier s approximately 10,000 years ago and was first discovered by a surveying team circa 1805 . The official state history says several groups of surveyors were working in the Franconia Notch area at the time and claimed credit for the discovery. Face-like stone formations are common around the world, including the famous Napoleon's Nose , in the hills north of Belfast . The Old Man was famous largely because of Statesman Daniel Webster , a New Hampshire Native , who once wrote: "Men hang out their signs indicative of their respective trades; shoe makers hang out a gigantic shoe; jewelers a monster watch, and the dentist hangs out a gold tooth; but up in the Mountains of New Hampshire, God Almighty has hung out a sign to show that there He makes men." The Writer Nathaniel Hawthorne also used the Old Man as inspiration for his Short Story called "The Great Stone Face," first published in 1850 , in which he described the formation as "a work of Nature in her mood of majestic playfulness." SYMBOLIC PROFILE The profile has been New Hampshire's State Emblem since 1945 . It was put on the state's License Plate , state Highway - Route signs, and the back of New Hampshire's Statehood Quarter , which is popularly promoted as the only US coin with a profile on both sides. Before the collapse, it could be seen from special viewing areas along Interstate 93 in Franconia Notch State Park , approximately 80 miles north of Concord, New Hampshire . COLLAPSE Defying attempts at Preservation , including the use of cables and spikes for most of the 20th Century , the formation collapsed to the ground between Midnight and 2 a.m., May 3 , 2003 . Centuries of Wind , Snow , and Rain , as well as Freezing and Thawing cycles, finally caught up with the profile. Dismay over the collapse was so great that people left flowers at the base of the cliffs in Tribute ; some state Legislator s sought to change New Hampshire's State Flag to include the profile; and many people suggested replacing the Old Man with a plastic replica - an idea that was quickly rejected by an official task force headed by former Governor Stephen Merrill . On the first anniversary of the collapse, the task force unveiled Coin-op erated Viewfinder s near the base of the cliff. Looking through them shows how the Old Man used to appear. On February 7 , 2007 , plans were announced at the New Hampshire State Library for an Old Man of the Mountain memorial, to include five huge stones which, viewed from a raised platform, merge into a form that recreates the profile outline. It is being overseen by The Old Man of The Mountain Legacy Fund, a committee that succeeded the Old Man of the Mountain Revitalization Task Force. The Legacy Fund is a private 501c3 corporation with representatives from various state agencies and several private non-profits. {Link without Title} Timeline of the Old Man
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