Tea, South Dakota

Would a Tea by any other name smell as sweet? Tea South Dakota was once a village named Byron a product of a railroad survey. People already lived in the area; they even had a store but once the railroad came through it was definitely moving in the direction of becoming a town. So, the local legend goes (and you know the details differ pending on who is telling the story but at this point none of us were there, so we are going to just have to believe the legend) that as the village of Byron wanted a Post Office it was said there were already too many places names Byron along the mail route and to pick another name. So, it was decided to have a list of 10 names to pick from, the group got to 9 names and decided to take a break and have tea... Hmmm Tea, now that's a good name, and the rest is history.  

Tea was officially incorporated in 1906 but its population won't break 300 until the 1970s and the 20 years specifically has been a huge growth spurt reaching over 5,500 people in 2020.  

This weekend the town of Tea will celebrate Teapot Days a traditional small-town festival started in 1996 in July but 4 years later moved to June in hopes of beating the heat. The festival includes a parade, music, crafts and sports, and has now expanded to include a street carnival, beer tent, and my favorite fireworks.  

Now I know what you guys are thinking... Will there be teapots, and do not despair yes indeed there will be if you know where to look! In fact, last Teapot days I was lucky enough to get to visit the Tea Area Historical Society Museum and wouldn't you know it they have a big display of teapots with about 140 of them donated by Bernice Toberson in 2016. The museum itself is also a piece of history as it is the old St. Nicolas Catholic Church the original section of the church built around the time Tea was incorporated.