There went the sun: April 8, 2024

Last April 8, people from Texas to Maine witnessed what could have been a once-in-a-lifetime experience: A total solar eclipse.
A portion of Newton County, including Jasper, was in the path of totality and experienced just over 2 minutes of darkness when the moon passed between Earth and the sun between 1:52 and 1:54 p.m. Other areas along the eclipse could have experienced over 4 minutes of duration.
Being on the edge of the eclipse, Newton County believed it could experience an influx of people who aren’t necessarily “planners” and decide they would like to experience “totality” (not always experienced during an eclipse) and decide to take a day trip into the “totality zone.”
Highway-choking traffic was predicted to be the major problem as some projections suggested a surge three times the size of a community's population. For Jasper that would have been more than 15,000 people.

"Come early, stay late and stay put," is what the tourism department advocated to potential visitors.
Residents were cautioned to take necessary preparations a week ahead of time by securing food, gasoline/fuel, prescription medicines, paper products and other essentials to last through at least a day or two after the eclipse as there would most likely be a run on those items by visitors as they arrive and during their exit of the county.
Officials braced for the unknown and made numerous steps in preparation, but the unmanageable numbers of visitors did not appear.