The Old Man & the Forest Society

Today is the 20th anniversary of the fall of The Old Man of the Mountain. Did you know that since its founding in 1901, the Forest Society has helped protect Franconia Notch, including the Old Man of the Mountain, and the surrounding forests several times from significant development?

In 1923, the Forest Society led a campaign to purchase 6,000 acres in Franconia Notch, including the Old Man of the Mountain, the Flume, the Basin, and two mountain lakes. The Abbott Company owned the recently burned Profile House in Franconia Notch and 7 miles along both sides of the Daniel Webster Highway (Route 3) and offered to sell the 6000 acres for $400,000. The Forest Society’s first President/Forester, Philip Ayres, persuaded then-Governor Winant to ask the legislature for half the money and it unanimously approved the $200,000. The Forest Society committed to raise the rest.

Responding to the subsequent campaign, donors from across the nation and the world made contributions as small as a nickel. The land was purchased by the June 1, 1928 deadline and dedicated on September 15, 1928.

The Forest Society planned to turn the entire tract over to the State Forestry Department but the State refused the Flume so the Forest Society operated the Flume for two decades until the creation of a State Parks Department in March 1948.

Then, after the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, the Forest Society successfully opposed a super highway through Franconia Notch in 1959. Today, it’s said that the Franconia Notch Parkway is the only two-lane section of Interstate Highway in the nation, and the Forest Society continues to be engaged with NHDOT when improvements are suggested.