Visitors from Multiple States Converge on Hardin County for Monday’s Total Solar Eclipse

A lot of out of towners converged on Hardin County Monday to view the total solar eclipse, which did not disappoint.

Many of them ended up at the Hardin County Fairgrounds.

Jesse from ODOT Facebook video: https://www.facebook.com/ODOTDistrict1

The Ohio Department of Transportation District One caught up with a view of the visitors, including Jesse Johnson, from Fredericksburg, Virginia. He talked about why he made the more than eight hour trek, “I looked on the map of totality, and Kenton was right in the middle. It’s right in the sweet spot of totality, plus it looked like it was away from large metropolitan areas, and I wanted to come here and hang out, and I know the eclipse is only like four minutes, but I was expecting and I am expecting  kind of a happening. It’s a bunch of people coming together, they’re not rooting against or for each other. They just want to enjoy an event of nature. This dance that the moon and the sun do  is an opportunity for them to see something spectacular, and I just wanted to be part of that.”

Shelly and Jeremy from ODOT Facebook video: https://www.facebook.com/ODOTDistrict1

Jeremy, along with his wife Shelly, traveled from Michigan to the Buckeye State and left impressed with the town, “Well we wanted to find somewhere that was really close to the center of totality, so we kind of ended up here and we saw that they had the whole fairgrounds, and we didn’t want  to pull off the road like they’re afraid  people are going to do. It’s been great. The weather is great today, unbelievably so for April, but  yes I walked around Kenton too and it’s a neat little town. I kind of liked it.”

The village of Forest enjoyed a festival-like atmosphere with numerous vendors and food trucks operating during the day. 

Eclipse viewers came to the village from New York, Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, and more.

The weather was perfect for the eclipse as mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the low 70’s prevailed in the area.

Southbound traffic on SR 31 north of Mt. Victory from ODOT Facebook video: https://www.facebook.com/ODOTDistrict1

ODOT reported a significant backup from eclipse traffic on State Route 31 southbound north of Mt. Victory, and on State Route 273 heading east into Mt. Victory, but no major issues were reported.

The big question is, ‘Who’s ready for September 14, 2099?’ That’s when the next total solar eclipse will cut across Ohio.