Profile, NH ?

[Chip]

There's Profile Rd, Profile School, etc. Was or is there a Profile or is it all referring to the Old Man ?

 

[nartreb]

The Profile is a synonym for the Old Man, and it was the defining feature of the Notch, lending its name to any tourist business in the general vicinity, such as the Profile Golf Club. Cannon itself was Profile Mountain. Here's a 1929 map:
http://docs.unh.edu/NH/frcn29sw.jpg

Another section of the same map:
http://docs.unh.edu/NH/frcn29nw.jpg


Today, Profile Rd goes from Franconia toward the north end of the Notch, but then it turns northerly and stays on the wrong side of Eagle Ridge to have any view of the Old Man. However, the roads in the Notch were heavily reconfigured when Interstate 93 was expanded (and/or earlier). On the 1929 map, Profile Rd is not named, but it is clearly visible. It was and is Route 18, starting in the center of Franconia. In 1929 it continued along the south shore of Echo Lake, and merged with Route 3 near the north end of Profile Lake.

Similar map from 1932:
http://docs.unh.edu/NH/frcn32nw.jpg

An 1860 map does not give a name to Profile Rd, but makes clear that it's part of the original route through the Notch: http://www.old-maps.com/nh/nh_towns/grafton_1860/Franconia_1860.jpg That makes "Profile Rd" an obvious name for it, from the perspective of a Franconian.

PS I just noticed that the 1860 map shows a couple of trails. If Old Bridle Path really was carved into the side of Coffin Ravine as this map shows, then I owe an apology to some 19th-century ladies who wrote what I thought were histrionically exaggerated letters about the steep terrain they encountered on their mule tours.

 

[Chip]

Thanks. So do you think the sign in Bethlehem was to direct people specifically to the Old Man? I thought Profile might be a section of town or something. Are there other signs in the area directing to Profile?

 

[sardog1]

Google is your friend (even in these post-Snowden revelation days):

[url]http://tinyurl.com/m6homzn[/URL]

Mebbe someone will know sumpin' 'bout that there narrow gage railway and whether any traces of it remain?

EDIT: Asked and answered: Profile and Franconia Notch Railroad

 

[Chip]

Okay. Thanks. So Profile was pretty much Profile House, which is now parking for Cannon? Did I read the right entries?

 

[nartreb]

I'm guessing that the Profile on the sign referred to the railway "depot", which was shouting distance from the Profile House hotel. (Same investors built both.)
See http://whitemountainhistory.org/Profile___Franconia_RR.html

The station is visible at lower right in this view of the Profile House (which was huge!): http://photos.whitemountainhistory....x?gallery=463197&mid=14846419&mt=Photo&ci=008

And here's a close-up of the station: http://photos.whitemountainhistory....x?gallery=463197&mid=14846419&mt=Photo&ci=008

Oh, and that photo collection includes an 1860s photo of the trail up Lafayette that looks more consistent with the modern route than with the route drawn on the 1820 map. Maybe I don't have to apologize to those nervous ladies after all.

 

[sardog1]

I'm guessing that the Profile on the sign referred to the railway "depot", which was shouting distance from the Profile House hotel.

Seems quite likely, given what is stated in the automobile guide I linked to about "Profile, N.H." being the terminus of the railroad.

 

[Chip]

Thanks. I guess the Latin is a clue that the sign there is at least 80 years old:

"When Governor John G. Winant of Concord launched a second term in 1931, he named a committee to serve with Hammond, to produce a less objectionable seal. The 1931 Legislature readily approved its recommendations.

Historic Warship Honored. The frigate Raleigh, built at Portsmouth in 1776, as one of the first 13 warships sponsored by the Continental Congress for a new American navy, became the centerpiece of the 1931 seal. The figure 1784 on the old seal was changed to 1776. The old Latin phrase "Neo Hantoniensis 1784 Sigillum Republica" around the circular seal was replaced with "Seal of the state of New Hampshire 1776." The 1931 seal law spelled out that only a granite boulder could be shown in the foreground, as symbolic of the Granite State’s rugged terrain and the character of its citizenry."