Forest City was once called Burnt Chimney, and it grew into the biggest town in Rutherford County on textiles. About 7,400 people live here. Four National Register historic districts, including East, West and Main Street and the Alexander Manufacturing Company Mill Village, hold a lot of the older housing, and Alexander Mills merged into the town in 1999.
The town runs its own utilities. Forest City treats its water from the Second Broad River at a plant on Vance Street built in 1948, and treats sewer at its Riverside Drive plant. Natural gas is Enbridge Gas North Carolina, the utility formerly known as PSNC and later Dominion Energy North Carolina, which took the Enbridge name after a 2024 sale.
Forest City is also the one town in the county with its own building inspections office, so permits inside town limits and its extraterritorial area come from the town, not the county. Gas Guys holds North Carolina license #L39015 and serves Forest City from its base in Spartanburg County, SC.
Forest City at a glance
- Natural gas
- Enbridge Gas North Carolina. Enbridge Gas North Carolina (formerly PSNC and Dominion Energy NC) serves Forest City; homes beyond its mains use propane.
- Water
- Town of Forest City
- Sewer
- Town of Forest City
- Permits
- Town of Forest City Building Inspections
- Housing
- Early 1900s homes along Main Street and in the Alexander Mills mill village, mid-century houses, and newer homes on the outskirts.
Plumbing and gas in Forest City: what to know
Mill village houses
Houses in a mill village were built quickly and alike, and most have been replumbed in pieces since. Under the floor you may find cast iron drains, a run of galvanized steel, some copper and a newer PEX branch, all in one crawlspace. Where those materials meet is where leaks and corrosion start, and low pressure at one fixture usually points to the galvanized.
Old gas piping in older houses
Many older homes here have had natural gas for decades, and some of the original black iron has been extended more than once to feed a new range, dryer or gas logs. Each addition takes capacity from the same pipe. Before adding another appliance, the whole system should be sized against the meter and pressure tested, which the NC Fuel Gas Code requires for new piping anyway.
Your sewer lateral
The town maintains the sewer main. The lateral from your house to the tap is yours, and in older neighborhoods it may be clay tile or cast iron with joints that roots find. Repeated backups at the lowest drain in the house are the classic sign. A camera inspection shows whether it is roots, a sag or a break before anyone digs.
Permits run through town hall
Because Forest City does its own inspections, the permit and the inspection both go through the town office, and inspections are scheduled online. The town also requires the first inspection within six months of the permit being issued. We handle the filing and meet the inspector.