American Grown Tea
South Carolina has a near monopoly on the history of tea cultivation in America. Early forays into growing tea occurred at Middleton Batony on the Ashley River near Charleston around 1800, and then again in 1848 at Greenville, South Carolina under the direction of Dr. Junius Smith. (The Intelligencer, 09 July 1915) Georgia and Texas both made brief attempts at growing tea, but none ever matched those of the Palmetto State. One town in particular stands out in the American history of tea farming, that is Summerville, South Carolina.
At the turn of the 20th century, the small town of Summerville was famous for its air. Tourists came from around the United States to breathe in the scent of pine and rest at a number of wellness resorts. The Pinehurst Inn was the most famous among them. While they came for the air, tea would become a key attraction.
In 1880, the United States Department of Agriculture leased 20 acres of land in Summerville where they experimented with tea cultivation until they gave up in 1887. At that time, Dr. Charles Shephard bought land in the town for a similar purpose. He founded Pinehurst Tea Farm in hopes of promoting American grown tea. Where the USDA had failed, Dr. Shephard was largely successful. He was the son of a mineralogist and noted meteorite collector, and was himself an expert in fertilizers based on phosphate. He brought in tea plants from China, India, and Japan and began to grow tea in South Carolina.
The Pinehurst Tea Farm proved to be a success. In 1899, the USDA appointed Shepherd “Special Agent in Charge of Tea Investigations for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.” The following year, Congress awarded his project $1700 in funding. (Kwist)
But Shephard faced some key challenges in bringing American grown tea to market. For starters, labor in America was far more expensive than in tea-producing countries like India and China. Shephard attempted to remedy this issue by building a free school on his tea farm for African-American children. The children would receive an education in literacy while learning to pick tea and making a bit of money.
While young children were picking delicate tea leaves, Shephard also struggled to produce green tea. Producing green tea artisanally requires a highly skilled method of processing called hand rolling. Once again, the cost of labor and the lack of expertise in hand rolling in America presented challenges to the Tea Farm. To fix the problem, Shephard spent a considerable amount of money on “The Little Giant,” a machine designed to replace hand rolling in green tea manufacture. The contraption was designed by the brother of Mr. J. Jackson, who had run the USDA Summerville tea experiment in 1880.
In spite of the challenges, Shephard managed to bring American-grown tea to market during his lifetime. He sold his tea under the slogan “From Bush to Cup, Quality, Purity, and Economy.” At its height, the Tea Farm was producing around 15,000 pounds of tea a year. (Foster)
Shephard wanted to push tea in different directions, American directions. Knowing that he couldn’t compete with the mass-market, mass-produced tea imported from India and China, he focused on premium products. He only harvested the finest, youngest leaves, instead of the harsher, more plentiful leaves. He also sold 10 cent boxes of 20 tea tablets–an early example of the “Just add water” concept. (The Herald and News, 09 Jan 1906) In both growing and processing tea, Shephard took an American approach.