15 Years Since New Hampshire Lost the the Old Man of the Mountain

By Wayne Johnson @ Shutterstock.com

It has been 15 years since the rock formation known as the Old Man of the Mountain fell apart in New Hampshire. Felice Belman of the Boston Globe explains why that was such a loss for the people of the Granite State.

It was 15 years ago — May 3, 2003 — that the Old Man of the Mountain, the state’s iconic symbol, lost its 10,000-year battle with gravity and slipped from its spot atop Franconia Notch.

If you weren’t there, it’s hard to appreciate just how bonkers the state’s reaction actually was. People responded as if some sort of deity — the Great Stone Face — or a cherished relative or the state’s very identity had crumbled to the ground. In many respects, it had.

The Old Man was a marvel: five hunks of granite 40 feet high and estimated to weigh 7,200 tons. Stand in just the right spot down below, and you really could see the profile of an old man. Stand in just the wrong spot, and — nothing.

This winter, my son Owen and I spent time nearby Franconia Notch. I wrote about our time in Northern New Hampshire here.

Originally posted on Yoursurvivalguy.com.

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E.J. Smith is the Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH, where he completed course-work in Practical and Defensive Handgun, Conceal Carry Pistol, Shotguns, Precision Scope Rifle and Kidnapping Prevention. E.J. plays a Yamaha Recording Custom drum set with Zilldjian cymbals. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@youngresearch.com. Sign up here to receive all the best content from Richardcyoung.com each week.