Blairsville, GA – The Blairsville Eclipse 2017 Event, which occurred at exactly 14:35:00 EST (2:35 p.m. at Union County Fire Station 1, located at 507 Shoe Factory Road in Blairsville, GA) was a spectacular sight to behold. The shadow that fell over the area was about the same as if a large thunderstorm had formed; yet, it was eerie because there were no clouds to speak of to accompany the dimness and the temperature drop of about 7 – 8 degrees F. Once second contact had occurred (totality, which lasted 00:01:59 at this location), protective glasses could be removed and the eclipse could be viewed with the naked eye and the legendary “diamond ring” around the moon could be seen.

Performing Arts Center viewing site

Meeks Park viewing site

Blairsville Industrial Park viewing site

The City of Blairsville and Union County were very well prepared for the onslaught of people that traveled here to experience the event. The Blairsville Industrial Park, Meeks Park, the green space between Hwy 515 and Blairsville City Hall, Vogel State Park, and the parking area adjacent to the Performing Arts Center at the Union County High School were all open to the public for free. Brasstown Bald Mountain sold tickets for access due to the limited space available at that facility. And, of course, the trails were open. About 400 hikers trekked area trails without mishap. Over a hundred food vendors from around Georgia and from adjoining states were on hand countywide to serve the visitors to our area. It is estimated that about of 15,000 people came to the Blairsville/Union County area for the event, but no hard numbers were available at the time of this writing.

Athens Clarke Gwinnett Mobile emergency radio relay vehicle standing by.

Other than the expected heightened traffic in the area, nothing out of the ordinary occurred. One person was treated for heat exhaustion at the Performing Arts Center location and there were two motor vehicle accidents in Union County related to the event. The Union County Chamber of Commerce, with the help of the Union County Road Department, handled parking at all the viewing areas and they did a stellar job of keeping the event running smoothly. Though traffic was slow in places, there were no traffic backups/stoppages in Blairsville or Union County as a whole.

NASA volunteers measure eclipse effect on Ionosphere at Meeks Park.

All said and done, local, state and federal agencies that worked this event did a great job of keeping any tragedies at bay and made Blairsville and Union County look great.

Blairsville Emergency Ops Center on Eclipse Day

The next total solar eclipse is predicted to occur on April 8, 2024, but the path of totality will not cross over Union County. We’ll be the visitors for the next one.

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