Old Man of the Mountain Replica in Hooksett, New Hampshire
On May 3rd, 2003, the iconic Old Man of the Mountain collapsed. Much beloved by New Hampshire residents and tourists alike, the picture of the legendary rock face is on the state’s license plates, road signs, postage stamps, and so much more.
The citizens of New Hampshire mourned the loss of the Old Man and there were several attempts to make state-sanctioned replicas. All of them fell through. In 2004, there was a proposition to change the state flag to include the old man, but it was ultimately rejected.
Some New Hampshire residents decided to take things into their own hands. In 2006, David, Paul, and Kenneth Scarpetti opened a self-storage facility in Hooksett, New Hampshire. They named it Profile Self Storage, in honor of the Old Man of the Mountain. Then they took it a step further by building a replica of the granite face to display at the self-storage facility.
From chin to forehead, the replica measures 10 feet tall—one-quarter the size of the original Old Man. Some 40 tons of granite went into the sculpture, the creation of which which was overseen by local builder Paul Langella. The Scarpetti brothers reportedly spent more than $25,000 on the replica, which is complete with granite chips scattered on the surrounding grass.
You can drive by and see the new Old Man keeping watch over a back road, a tribute to New Hampshire’s favorite rock formation. In 2011, a plaza was installed at the base of Cannon Mountain, the Old Man’s original location. It includes a series of steel beams that, when viewed from the right angle, create the illusion of the profile that was loved and lost.
