November 7 – 10, 2024
In 1774, York County passed a resolution to boycott English goods such as tea but Williamsburg merchant John Prentis ordered tea from London. On November 7, 1774, in retaliation, a group of patriots led by Thomas Nelson, Jr. marched to the Yorktown waterfronts, climbed onto the ship Virginia and emptied two half chests of tea into the York River. The Yorktown Tea Party was a bold and defiant act that echoed the spirit of the Boston Tea Party that occurred 11 months earlier and sent a clear message to the British that the Virginians were united against taxation without representation.
To honor the Yorktown Tea Party’s 250th Anniversary, Yorktown hosted the Tea Party Festival from November 6 – 10 that included performances by the Fifes and Drums of York Town, free deck tours aboard the Godspeed, a tea smuggling exhibit at the Watermen’s Museum, living history stations and historic building tours, tall ship tours, blacksmith demonstrations, exhibitions, photo stations of the tea dumping, and more.
November 4, 2024
Daily Press
August 20, 2024
Virginia Living
