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Tea in the Low country

A Detailed History

Colonial Georgia (1744–1772)

The very first attempt to grow tea in the Americas came in 1744, when tea seeds were sent to the Trust Garden in Savannah, Georgia, under the auspices of the colonial Trustees.  The seeds did not germinate. In 1772, plants were sent again and successfully grew on Skidaway Island near Savannah — the first recorded successful cultivation of Camellia sinensis in the colonies.  The plants thrived there for at least until 1805, but no commercial production followed. The Lowcountry climate — sandy soil, high humidity, tropical temperatures — proved ideal, but the economic incentive was weak while cheap Chinese and Indian imports dominated. 

Georgetown: The Second Attempt (1874–1879)

Dr. Alexis Forster took up tea cultivation in Georgetown, South Carolina in 1874.  Like Smith, he had a short-lived success. He died in 1879, and the plantation was abandoned once again.  A pattern was emerging: the men devoted to tea cultivation kept dying, and so did the plants. 

Alexis Forster tea plantation Georgetown South Carolina

The Federal Experiment (1880s)

In the 1880s, the US Department of Agriculture leased land near Summerville and established a government experimental tea farm.  The operation ran until 1888, when the government concluded that South Carolina's climate was too unstable to sustain a commercial tea crop.  The USDA's 1897 report delivered the final verdict: "The minimum cost [is] about eight times as much to pick one pound of tea in SC as that paid for the same service in Asia."

In 2003, the garden was acquired by Bigelow Tea (the company founded by Ruth and E. H. "Bob" Bigelow in Fairfield, CT).  It is now the only large-scale commercial tea plantation in the United States, producing:

  • American Classic (the signature blend)

  • Charleston Breakfast

  • Earl Grey

  • Eight other specialty flavors

  • Both black and green teas

The garden supports agritourism through free factory tours (showing harvest to packaging) and paid trolley tours.

Every Camellia sinensis plant growing on the grounds is a direct descendant of Dr. Shepard's 1888 crop, making it a living piece of American agricultural history. 

Middleton Place: The Birthplace of American Tea (1791–1799)

The pivotal moment came when André Michaux, a French botanist who had traveled extensively in Asia and Africa, brought Camellia sinensis specimens to the United States.  Sources disagree on the exact date: some say 1791–1792, others 1799. Michaux delivered the plants to his friend Henry Middleton at Middleton Barony (now Middleton Place) along the Ashley River, between Summerville and Charleston. 

The plants were intended for ornamental purposes, not commercial tea production.  They thrived spectacularly, growing to heights of up to 15 feet in the humid subtropical climate.  Over time, their popularity spread throughout the Republic. Some of those original camellia bushes still grow at Middleton Place today. 

A critical detail: Junius Smith later took cuttings from Middleton Place to start his own commercial operation, making Middleton the genetic ancestor of virtually all American-grown tea. 

Pinehurst: The First Commercially Viable American Tea (1888–1915)

Dr. Charles Shepard, a botanist, chemist, and professor at the Medical College of South Carolina, took advantage of a farmer's subsidy offered by the government and used plants from the federal farm to establish the Pinehurst Tea Plantation in Summerville in 1888. 

Shepard's operation was the most successful in American tea history:

  • He secured labor by opening a school and making tea-picking part of its curriculum, employing local Black workers and paid Chinese experts

  • By 1887–1888, he was producing approximately 12,000 pounds of tea per year

  • His tea won first place at the 1904 St.  Louis World's Fair

  • The plantation operated continuously for 27 years

When Shepard died in 1915, the plantation closed.  The tea plants were abandoned and grew wild for the next 45 years. 

Golden Grove: America's First Commercial Tea (1848–1853)

In 1848, Dr. Junius Smith — a 70-year-old retired London physician, shipping magnate, and pioneer of steamship travel — moved to Greenville, South Carolina (in the foothills of the Upstate, about 20 miles from Wadmalaw Island) and established a 270-acre experimental tea farm at Golden Grove Plantation.  He planted cuttings taken from Middleton Place along with others imported from overseas. 

Smith's venture was a genuine success. On July 4, 1851, he wrote: "Now I have before me a pot of fresh tea from my own plantation, the first I have enjoyed." He went on to write the first extensive US publications about tea planting.  His plants prospered even through an 8-inch snowfall in the area.

But the enterprise was cut short. In 1853, Smith was shot and killed, and the plantation closed.  The tea plants were abandoned.

Wadmalaw Island: Lipton's Rescue (1963)

In 1963, the Thomas J. Lipton Company, worried about the instability of tea-producing countries in the Third World, purchased a 127-acre potato farm on Wadmalaw Island and transplanted the surviving Shepard plants from Pinehurst to the island.  The farm became an experimental research station.  For the next 24 years, research was conducted on the plants. 

Charleston Tea Garden: America's Only Working Tea Plantation (1987–present)

In 1987, William Barclay Hall, a third-generation tea taster, purchased the Wadmalaw Island farm and began commercial production.  He developed the American Classic tea blend from Shepard's original plants.