AAHA! VA

AAHA! VA has joined with Traveling America, Inc. to build awareness for African American Heritage in Virginia. Along with the Civil Rights in Education Heritage Trail, traversing Southside Virginia and Traveling America’s American Pathways journey and the new “Exploring African American Heritage Trail in Virginia” will connect together in the Richmond/Petersburg area to form the initial network of African American Heritage Trails in Virginia. Each Trail branch is unique and tells a compelling story which weaves together the important history at each of the location and motivates travelers to explore a region and visit a particular place. Accompanying travel guides punctuated with stories and visuals that captures the essence of the experience are essential to engage potential travelers who have an interest in exploring the trail.

Venues/sites information was gathered from numerous other partners to create a website that deliver a fuller depiction of the African American experience in the Virginia.

These individual locations have be fashioned into an understandable, enjoyable and salable travel tour. Tours blend descriptive accounts and scenic visuals into stories or a marketing piece (on-line, broadcast and in print) that captures the essence of the experience and continue the dialogue with potential travelers who become interested in the exploring Virginia's diverse heritage.

Interstate 95 (Washington, DC/Emporia VA - North/South)
Interstate 395 (Around Washington, DC)
Interstate 495 (Around Washington, DC)

Interstate 64 (Central VA - East/West)
Interstate 264 (Virginia Beach)
Interstate 564 (Norfolk)
Interstate 664 (Portsmouth)

Interstate 77 (Wythville/Bluefield - East/West)
Interstate 81 (Winchester/Bristol - North/South)
Interstate 85 (Petersburg/South Hill - North/South)

US 13 (Eastern Shore - North/South)
US 15 (Leesburg/North Carolina - North/South)
US 17 (Newport News/Winchester - East/West)
US 50 (Washington, DC/Winchester - East/West)

US 29 (Washington, DC/Danville - North/South)
US 58 (Virginia Beach/Cumberland Gap - East/West)

US 250 (Richmond/Hightown - East/West)
US 301 (Baltimore/Emporia - North/South)
US 360 (Reedville/Danville - East/West)
US 460 (Norfolk/Grundy - East/West)

The Route 58 corridor runs from Virginia Beach to Middlesboro/Cumberland Gap it identifies, connects and weaves a tapestry of African American Heritage Tourism sites across the southern border of Virginia. Route 58 Corridor visitors who travel to their particular destination are enticed to explore these African American Heritage sites as they cross or drive along the corridor (ie Martinsville, Danville, Suffolk and Virginia Beach) and can strategically arrange to stop on Route 58.

The Route 58 Corridor research produces stories generated to connect designated African American locations from Virginia Beach through Middlesboro/Cumberland Gap and place the narratives on the website (the already developed Northern Virginia Trail will also be included). .Ultimately, Route 58, links with the Civil Rights in Education Trail across Southern Virginia. Traveling America’s American Pathways journey and Exploring African American Heritage - will each connect together in the Richmond/Petersburg area to broaden southward the network of African American Heritage Trails in Virginia. The Route 58 Corridor which traverses the area between these regions will work to pull more visitors through the less visited areas between and along the corridor that create more cross-traffic between the many major destinations.

Even though the Southern Virginia African American Heritage - Route 58 Corridor represents development of a tourism offering “from the ground up,” it will begin to generate incremental visitation in areas where even a small increase in the number of visitors will have an impact.

More African American travel experience offerings in Virginia can address the needs of this robust market. These travel products (such as the Route 58 Corridor, which are multi-day, will increase the length of stay of those visitors) and stories will work to increase the number of visitors who are attracted to Virginia.

Listed below are the counties and cities along Route 58 Corridor.

Counties	Cities	Web Site

Virginia Beach		Virginia Beach

Norfolk		Norfolk

Chesapeake		Chesapeake

Suffolk		Suffolk
	Holland
South Hampton
	Franklin	Franklin
	Courtland
	Capron
Greensville
	Emporia	Emporia
Brunswick		Tour Brunswick
	Edgerton
	Lawrenceville
	Brodnax
Mecklenburg		Mecklenburg
	South Hill	South Boston, Town of
	Boydton
	Finchley
	Clarksville
Halifax		Halifax
	Buffalo Springs
	South Boston	South Hill, Town of
	Tuberville
Pittsylvania		Pittsylvania
	Danville
Henry		Henry
	Axton
	Martinsville	Martinsville
	Collinsville
Patrick		Patrick
	Stuart
	Meadows of Dan
Carroll		Carroll
	Laurel Fork
	Hillside	Hillsville
	Woodlawn
	Galax	Galax, City of
Grayson		Grayson
	Independence	Independence
	Mouth of Wilson
	Volney
Washington		Washington
	Abingdon	Abingdon
	Green Cove
	Konnarock
	Damascus	Damascus
	Bristol	Bristol
Russell		Russell
	Hansonville
	Dickensonville
	St. Paul
Scott		Scott
	Hiltons
	Gate City
	Weber City
	Duffield
Wise		Wise
	Appalachia
	Coeburn	Coeburn
	Tacoma
	Norton	Norton
	Big Stone Gap	Big Stone Gap
Lee		Lee County
		Lee
	Dryden
	Pennington Gap	Pearisburg, Town of
	Ben Hur
	Stickeyville
	Dot
	Jonesville	Jonesville
	Rose Hill
	Ewing
	Cumberland Gap

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