Reidville grew from Nazareth Presbyterian Church, built in 1772 by Irish settlers who had come down from Pennsylvania to the Tyger River area. It took its name from the Reverend Robert H. Reid, and the town was laid out between a boys' academy at one end of Main Street and a girls' academy at the other. The Reidville Academy Faculty House is on the National Register.
Recent growth has changed it more than the previous century did. Reidville went from 601 people in 2010 to 1,634 in 2020, an increase of about 170 percent on less than two square miles, and new subdivisions keep going up around the historic center. So the plumbing here splits into two very different worlds: brand-new homes with PEX and builder water heaters, and older houses and farmhouses with decades of repairs.
Water comes from the SJWD Water District, which reports very soft water, and some outlying homes still use wells. Sewer is the Spartanburg Sanitary Sewer District in parts of the area and septic on larger lots. Natural gas in town is Greer CPW. For permits, the town gives zoning approval first, then its contractor, CC&I, issues the permit and performs inspections.
Reidville at a glance
- Natural gas
- Greer CPW. Greer CPW holds the gas franchise in the Town of Reidville; outside town some homes have no gas main and run on propane or electric.
- Water
- SJWD Water District; some private wells
- Sewer
- Spartanburg Sanitary Sewer District in parts; septic on larger lots
- Permits
- Town of Reidville (zoning approval, then CC&I for permits); Spartanburg County outside town limits
- Housing
- A small historic center around the old academies, older farmhouses, and many new subdivisions built since 2010.
Plumbing and gas in Reidville: what to know
Two-step permits in town
Since April 2023, the Town of Reidville has contracted CC&I to issue building permits and handle code enforcement. You first send the town a land use permit for zoning approval, and once that clears, CC&I issues the permit and does the inspections. Outside town limits, Spartanburg County Building Codes handles it.
New construction, early problems
Newer homes have their own first-decade issues: a missing or failed expansion tank that makes the relief valve drip, PEX fittings that were not fully crimped, and tank water heaters sized for a smaller family than now lives there. These are cheap problems to catch early and costly ones to ignore.
Greer CPW gas
Reidville is in Greer CPW's gas territory, not Piedmont's. A gas smell or a meter problem goes to Greer CPW. If you are adding a gas range, outdoor grill line or tankless water heater to a new home, check that the builder's gas line was sized with room for it; many are sized only for the appliances installed at closing.
Wells, septic and SJWD
Some older properties around Reidville still run on private wells and septic, while the subdivisions are on SJWD water and, in parts of the area, public sewer. A home on a well needs its pump and pressure tank kept healthy; a home on septic should keep grease and wipes out of the drains.