Notice of the Profile Mountain in New Hampshire
By Gen. Martin Field
New Fane, Vermont, November 22, 1827
To Professor Silliman.
Dear Sir—On a late excursion, which I made among the White Mountains in New Hampshire, I visited Franconia and the Profile Mountain, which has long been considered a rare phenomenon. I there procured a sketch of the mountain, which I enclose to you, and if it meets your approbation, you will please to insert it in the Journal of Science, &c.*
I am sir, very respectfully, yours &c.
Martin Field
*The sketch of the mountain, profile, &c. was taken by a gentleman of Boston, and the likeness is a good one. The mountain scenery is filled up from fancy. The mountain is covered with trees and shrubbery, except the profile rock. The timber is a mixture of beach, birch, rock maple, bass wood, &c., with hemlock, spruce, and other evergreens.
The White Mountain range passes through the easterly part of Franconia, and presents numerous elevations and sublime scenery. But the greatest elevation, in that vicinity, is Mount La Fayette, which forms the northern boundary of the Notch, so called, and is supposed to exceed four thousand feet, in height. The Profile Mountain is nigh the road leading from Franconia to Plymouth—is five miles from the lower iron works, in Franconia, and about three miles south of Mount La Fayette. The elevation of this mountain, I understand, has never been accurately ascertained, but it is generally estimated to be, at least, one thousand feet. The road passes very nigh the foot of the mountain, from which it rises abruptly, at an angle of about 80° to the profile rock. The bare rock, on which the profile is delineated, is granite, and having been long exposed to the atmosphere, its color is a dark reddish brown. A side view of the projecting rock, near the peak of the mountain, in a northern direction, exhibits the profile of the human face, in which every line and feature are conspicuous. But after passing the mountain to the south, the likeness is immediately lost.
NOTES
- Field, Martin. “Notice of the Profile Mountain in New Hampshire.” The American Journal of Science and Arts 14 (July 1828): 64–65.
