Despite repeated attempts to stabilize the rock formation known as the Old Man of the Mountain in Franconia Notch State Park, its renowned features disappeared without warning on May 3, 2003.
Early that morning, two state park workers glanced up at Cannon Mountain during their morning rounds and discovered that the iconic symbol of New Hampshire had disappeared. A couple of rock climbers, who had stayed overnight in the area, reported having heard “a loud roar followed by a long rumble” sometime between midnight and 2 a.m. in the direction of the cliff where the Old Man stood.
No sign remained of the huge boulders that comprised the 40-foot tall, 25-foot-wide rock formation.
N.H Historical Society