Memorial to put Old Man in perspective

From lake shore visitors will see his ancient visage

Five years after the Old Man of the Mountain crashed down, plans were announced yesterday for a memorial. (JIM COLE/ASSOCIATED PRESS/FILE 2001)

Email|Print|Single Page| Text size – + By Richard Thompson

Globe Correspondent / May 4, 2008

Five years to the day after the Old Man of the Mountain collapsed from its perch on Cannon Mountain, more than 200 people visited the site yesterday to pay tribute to the New Hampshire icon and to see plans to memorialize the giant mountainside landmark.

"We wanted to draw attention to the plans to memorialize the Old Man, get people to Franconia Notch to see the spot where the memorial will be going, and to bring together those who really had a special connection to this wonderful stone face," said Maggie Stier of the Old Man of the Mountain Legacy Fund, established in 2003 to plan the memorial and raise money for the project.

The natural rock formation, which resembled a man's facial profile, was estimated to have been formed in the last ice age, perhaps 12,000 years ago. It came crashing down in 2003, after being loosened by heavy rain, high winds, and freezing temperatures. The Old Man had been a popular tourist attraction since surveyors discovered it in 1805.

On display yesterday at the site about 70 miles north of Boston was a 17-foot-long model of the planned memorial, which shows five stones of various heights in spots along the shore of Profile Lake, from where the profile of the Old Man was visible, Stier said.

"People would typically walk down to the lake shore to look at the Old Man," she said. When construction of the $4.8 million project is completed, "as they walk down the path and line up properly in front of those stones, they'll see the profile again," Stier said.

On hand yesterday were Dave and Deborah Nielsen, longtime caretakers of the Old Man. They shared their recollections with visitors at the Old Man of the Mountain Museum, which hosts several exhibits about the site.

Local high school students performed the "White Mountain Suite," an original composition for six harps, and middle school pupils performed skits that were written and performed when President Eisenhower visited Franconia Notch in 1955, Stier said.

In an interview yesterday, Stier reflected on the legacy of the landmark and the fund's mission to preserve its history. She quoted statesman Daniel Webster, who once said, "In the mountains of New Hampshire, God almighty has hung out a sign to show that there He makes men."

"Every child in New Hampshire learns that in the third grade when they study New Hampshire," Stier said.