Early settlers and travelers called this 15-acre mountain lake Ferrin’s Pond and often camped by the outlet; it was also known as the Old Man’s Mirror and the Old Man’s Washbowl. After the Lafayette House was built in 1835 and the First Profile House in 1853, both just north of here, summer visitors arrived along with painters, writers, and poets, many staying all season, and the spot gained wide attention and fame. Profile Lake became the centerpiece and “Crown Jewel” of the White Mountains, with boats, concerts, picnics, and walks forming part of the summer scene during that Golden Age. In his 1858 Guide to the White Mountains, Samuel Eastman wrote, “Here Nature has provided for her creation an appropriate mirror. That here only the finest trout live, as though only the choicest of fish were suited to inhabit such a pure abode.” In 1880 Chisholm’s White Mountain Guide Book called it “The beautiful crystalline tarn at the foot of the mountain,” where “a little navy of dainty boats is kept, to wage war on the trout, or give Paul and Virginia a chance to insulate themselves in the embowered coves toward the outlet.” After the Hotel Era passed, the little navy of boats, the concerts, and the other hotel activities became history, but countless thousands of people from every walk of life still come to enjoy the splendor of Franconia Notch. In 1890 Julius H. Ward wrote for past, present, and future generations, “This place is where you forget the outside world and give yourself up to Nature.”