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The Only Tea Plantation in North America

Friday, 24 November 2006 by Elizabeth

Charleston Tea Plantation

Charleston Plantation Sign

Almost 200 years ago, tea planters brought their finest ancestral tea bushes from China and India to Wadmalaw Island near the historic old city of Charleston, South Carolina. On May 11, 2006, R.C. Bigelow was able to celebrate the historic occasion of re-opening the fully-restored Charleston Tea Plantation.

Established in 1888 in Summerville, South Carolina, the Plantation was a national producer of black tea until 1915. It was then derelict for 45 years. In 1960 the Lipton Tea Company purchased the Plantation and moved it to the present, more suitable location on Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina. By this time the plantation was the only functional, commercial tea plantation in North America.

In 1987, Lipton sold the Plantation to tea expert Bill Hall and his partner. The next year they created the American Classic tea brand from the tea leaves grown there.

Cherry Point Landing

R.C. Bigelow purchased the Plantation in 2003. Since then Bigelow Tea has made significant investments working closely with Bill Hall to modernize the Plantation, make it capable of processing high-quality black tea, and fine tune it to make it visitor friendly.

Charleston Planation Road

Today the 127 acre Charleston Tea Plantation is open to visitors. Direct descendants of the original plants brought from China and India almost 200 years ago have been lovingly restored to their former grandeur in the Charleston Tea Plantation, a lush subtropical tea farm.

Charleston Plantation tea field

The entry 'The Only Tea Plantation in North America' was posted on November 24th, 2006 at 11:26 am and is filed under Charleston Tea Plantation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

10 Responses to “The Only Tea Plantation in North America”

  1. Lori Rolfe writes:
    No. 1 — March 28th, 2007 at 11:20 am

    My daughter and I made a trip to the Charleston area last week, from New England. We did not have the chance to visit the tea plantation but did bring home some of their teas to give to family and friends. I am now addicted to their Carolina Peach Tea. I wish I’d purchased more while I was in the area.

  2. Gail Wysocki writes:
    No. 2 — June 30th, 2007 at 9:28 pm

    My husband and I drove from CT to visit your tea plantation since we were in the area. The tea is wonderful, we bought First Flush and cases of the american classic tea, we would like to know how to order more.
    It was fun to see our only American Tea Plantation
    Thank you

  3. Valorie writes:
    No. 3 — July 2nd, 2007 at 1:32 pm

    Gail,

    American Classic tea can be purchased from our website, http://www.bigelowtea.com. You can get 6 boxes of tea 24 tea bags in each for $17.75. It is located under the black tea category.

    thanks for your comment,

    Valorie for Bigelow Tea

  4. charles greig writes:
    No. 4 — November 15th, 2007 at 2:04 pm

    It was wonderful to see such pretty pictures of your plantation. As a matter of fact I have worked in the Tea plantation in Bangladesh for 18years as a Manager and I am always interested to find out more about this industery in different parts of the world. If possible could you take the trouble to send me more details of your wonderful plantation.
    Thanks
    Charles

  5. Valorie writes:
    No. 5 — November 16th, 2007 at 7:35 am

    Charles,

    Please go to our website for more information, http://www.bigelowtea.com. Charleston Tea Plantation is truly a special place!

    Valorie for Bigelow Tea

  6. Betty Justice writes:
    No. 6 — December 2nd, 2007 at 9:13 pm

    I recently visited the Charleston Tea Plantation and purchased Carolina Peach Tea. I would like to buy more for gifts. Where can it be purchased? I cannot find it on the Bigelow website.

  7. Valorie writes:
    No. 7 — December 3rd, 2007 at 12:44 pm

    Betty,

    Our selection of American Classic Loose Teas, including the Plantation Peach Tea, are available by phone orders only, by calling 843-559-0383. The cost for the tea is $9.95 each or 3 for $25.00 plus shipping and handling.

    Thanks for asking,

    Consumer Service, Bigelow Tea

  8. Maryland Alegre writes:
    No. 8 — March 19th, 2010 at 8:10 pm

    No excuses; one must leave comment after reading. That is what keeps the bloggers going besides many other things.

  9. Jenny writes:
    No. 9 — July 2nd, 2010 at 8:47 am

    A group of us made the trip to the plantation while on vacation in Myrtle Beach. It was well worth the trip. Very interesting tour, extremely friendly staff, and the best raspberry tea you will ever taste !!! Thanks to all the plantation staff :-)

  10. Valorie writes:
    No. 10 — July 5th, 2010 at 5:09 pm

    Jenny,

    So glad to hear that you enjoyed yourself!

    Thanks for visiting our blog,

    Valorie for Bigelow Tea

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