3c Great Stone Face single

This New Hampshire Issue stamp commemorates the sesquicentennial of the discovery of the “Old Man of the Mountain.” The granite formation was discovered by surveyors in 1805 on the ledge of Cannon Mountain in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. When viewed from the north, the formation looked like the profile of the face of an old man. The formation collapsed in 2003 due to cracks caused by continual freezing and thawing. The stamp features an image of the “Great Stone Face,” an alternate name for the formation popularized due to a short story by Nathanial Hawthorne, as well as New Hampshire’s state motto, “Live Free or Die.”

United States; New Hampshire; Old Man of the Mountain; Great Stone Face; nature; formation; rock; granite; Cannon Mountain; White Mountains; Franconia Notch; Nathanial Hawthorne; story; motto; sesquicentennial