The Oldest Tea Plantation In America Is Right Here In South Carolina And It's Amazing
It stands to reason that South Carolina has a number of “firsts.” We had the first museum, the first musical society, the first black church… the list goes on, and you can see it here. We also had the first tea plantation. It was located in Summerville, and began around 1888. But by 1915, the owner had fallen into ill health and the plantation’s prosperity dwindled. A few decades later, plants from that plantation would be transferred to a tea plantation located on Wadmalaw Island just south of Charleston.
Charleston Tea Plantation combines its decades of tea growing with plants from the first tea garden in America to make it the oldest working tea plantation in the country. Have you explored this enormous tea garden yet?
Charleston Tea Plantation is located at 6617 Maybank Hwy., Wadmalaw Island, SC 29487. It’s open seven days a week: Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 4:00 p.m. (See a list of holiday closures here.) Self-guided tours are free. Trolley tours are $12/person, $6 for children 12 and under. Factory tours are free. Learn more on the official website for Charleston Tea Plantation, and on their Facebook page.
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