River City Segs Hosts Discounted Black History Month Tours

By: J. Chevont’e Alexander

 

Step back into time and enjoy Richmond’s great history by rolling down Broad Street and through Shockoe Bottom on a Segway.

Did you know that Richmond’s Jackson Ward neighborhood is the home to Maggie Walker, physician black entrepreneur and civil rights activist?

OR

Did you know that Virginia Union University was founded by a former slave trader in 1865?

OR

Did you know that the Manchester Docks on Maury Street was a major port in the massive downriver Slave Trade that made Richmond the largest source of enslaved Africans on the east coast of America from 1830 to 1860?

Having just lived in Richmond for about five years, viagra 100mg I never knew how much history surrounded me. My mother and I had the great opportunity of recognizing Black History Month and doing a little sight-seeing around Richmond by taking a tour with River City Segs in Richmond, located at 1805 East Grace Street. Talk about history, River City Segs is housed in an 1884 firehouse that has the only Segway specific training course in Virginia.

All this, and even more, can be learned on the River City Segs Black History Segway Tour. During Black History Month, the Richmond community celebrates its black heritage in a number of venues, but there is nothing quite like visiting Jackson Ward or Brown’s Island or cruising down the Canal on a Segway.

“I whole-heartedly recommend taking a Segway tour with River City Segs! Taking a Segway tour is something that I have wanted to do for years, and this whole experience was everything I could have hoped for and more. Jeff shared his incredibly extensive knowledge of Richmond history. My husband and I were both impressed that we didn’t ask about any building, area, time period, or topic really that he was not knowledgeable about. He was friendly, engaging, and professional as well. We could not have had a better first Segway Tour!”  ~ Review on River City Segs.

River City Segs, the premier Segway tour company in Richmond, is celebrating Black History Month by offering a group rate of four riders for only $75. The tour’s regular rate is $59 a person, with a seasonal rate (until March 15) of $29.50. The Black History Month tour is scheduled Thursday through Sunday through the month of February. During the rest of the year, they offer more than eight tours to choose from including history tours, art tours, riding tours, and more.

The Black History Segway Tour is a two-hour educational adventure following the ups and downs of the black community in Richmond, which reflects the nation as a whole, including the slave trade, emancipation, Jim Crow, Civil Rights and more. Richmond was one of the largest slave markets in the U.S. until the Union Army marched into town. Emancipation was reinforced when President Lincoln walked through the scorched town the next day. Jackson Ward was the home to the first Black owned bank in the United States, The Hippodrome Theater, the offices of Oliver Hill and Maggie Walker, among other notables, giving it the names “The Birth Place of Black Capitalism in America” and the “Harlem of the South”. The Civil Rights movement also plays a big part in Richmond, including the second sit-in in the country. The tour is offered year-round, but this offer only lasts through February.

Jeff Majer, Chad Harvey and Nathan Willis are the proud partners/owners of River City Segs, and they are very much focused on safety. River City Segs makes sure that your safety is indeed a priority. The tour kicks off about 45 minutes before its tour start time for a full training session on how to use the segway, including a video actual hands-on obstacle course for you to complete to get comfortable.  [VIDEO to see obstacle course]

“We are very focused on safety,” says Harvey. “People occasionally ask if they really need to go through our entire training course before taking a tour; but, out on tour, they are always glad they went through the training.”

“I had a great Segway training and tour experience!,” says Dr. Emogene Johnson Vaughn, Professor at Norfolk State University. “All operating skills from stopping, turning, speeding up, slowing down, and getting off were quickly learned, needed, and used during my tour. The battery-powered Segway was an efficient transportation mode used to explore the amazing two-hour Black History tour. The Segway is indeed the way to go for extended walking tours.”

Feel free to contact River City Segs with any questions or comments, and to book your tour or go to www.rivercitysegs.com, or call (804) 343-6105 for more information.

Looking for more interactive ways to connect with Richmond’s great history? River City Segs partner, Jeff Majer is the host of History Replays Today, The Richmond History Podcast, free on iTunes, Stitcher or at historyreplaystoday.org.

“We hope that we can help tourists and locals engage with Richmond and appreciate the layers of history we live with everyday.” says Majer.