Homestead National Monument of America, Estimates 30,000 Attended Eclipse Events

BEATRICE – Homestead National Monument of America officials have announced attendance figures for the full solar eclipse. Superintendent Mark Engler says an estimated 13,000 to 15,000 people attended the eclipse events, on Monday. [audio mp3="http://media3.floodradio.com/columbus/2017/08/Homestead-Numbers-Eclipse1.mp3"][/audio] :16                  “with riders” Officials also used parking lot counts to arrive at the figure.  For the four days, Friday through Monday…attendance was about double the Monday figure. [audio mp3="http://media3.floodradio.com/columbus/2017/08/Homestead-Numbers-Eclipse2.mp3"][/audio] :07                  “30-thousand people” Engler says the monument set records for single-day visitation, as the eclipse events drew people from nearly every state in the U.S.  Beatrice was near the center of the path of totality for the eclipse. Engler says it was a great opportunity for the community and for the monument to attract first-time visitors, discovering a national park.  National media coverage also helped introduce the Homestead to people around the globe.  Engler says live streaming of events played a significant factor. The monument partnered with NASA to put on programs, providing scientists who could talk about various aspects of an eclipse and space research. [audio mp3="http://media3.floodradio.com/columbus/2017/08/Homestead-Numbers-Eclipse3.mp3"][/audio] :27                  “pretty cool” Engler says the monument was still seeing visitors Tuesday, who came to Nebraska for the eclipse.  He also said the national monument is likely closing in on a new annual attendance record. The record is about 102,000 visitors.  That was set in 2012, the year of the sesquicentennial display of the official Homestead Act, at the monument’s Heritage Center.  The second-highest attendance on record came in 2016, when the Homestead registered a total of 87,754 visitors.  That was the year the National Park Service launched the “Find Your Park” campaign, and the Homestead quarter was unveiled as part of the “America the Beautiful” quarter series.