“T” is for Tega Cay

“T” is for Tega Cay (York County; 2020 population 12, 273). A recreation-oriented community on Lake Wylie with stronger ties to North Carolina than South Carolina, Tega Cay came into being in 1970 when Duke Power Company sold sixteen hundred acres in northwestern Fort Mill Township to the Ervin Company of Charlotte—the first of several developers involved with the site. The name allegedly comes from an obscure Polynesian dialect and means “Lovely Peninsula.” Historically the site was identified as India Hook Hill, an apt description for the red clay spur of land that jutted out like a fishhook into the Catawba River. On July 4, 1982, Tega Cay was incorporated. Every year since then residents have made the Fourth of July Tega Cay’s birthday--celebrated with block parties, a boat parade, and other events.