Tesselaarsdal lies within the Theewaterskloof Municipality in the Overberg region of the Western Cape.

The story of the farm Hartebeesterivier, which is the later name of the farm, dates back to 1781 when it was granted to Johannes Jacobus Tesselaar in recognition of his service with the Dutch East India Company (VOC).

After the death of Tesselaar in 1810 and his widow in 1832, the farm was inherited by nine individuals who had previously worked as servants or were held in bondage, along with their descendants — forming the community of Tesselaarsdal, the base of the founding people.

In the beginning, the settlement grew into a small community of farms, a mission church, a primary school, and the name changed from Hartebeesterivier to Tesselaarsdal when the post office was established to eliminate the confusion caused by other towns with the same name.

Tesselaarsdal, unlike many other places in South Africa, was spared from compulsory displacement by the Group Areas Act during apartheid — most of the people living in the area have stayed.