Black and White images courtesy of the SC Dept. of Archives and History ca. 1980
The Yorkville Enquirer of Aug. 29, 1878 contained an ad for the Reidville Female College in Reidville with Robert P. Smith as Principal. The next session of the college begins Sept. 9th.”
The Yorkville Enquirer reported on July 28, 1881 – “The Reidville Female College held its recently commencement which featured an address by W.B. Wilson, Esq. of Yorkville.”
The Yorkville Enquirer reported on Jan. 26, 1887 – “During the recess period, the schoolhouse at Reidville in Spartanburg Co., took fire and burned down. The brick walls remain standing and maybe used in rebuilding.” On Feb. 9 the paper later reported – “The trustees of the Reidville Male Academy which was recently destroyed by fire, are raising money to rebuild.”
City Directories and History: The Reidville Academy Faculty House is significant as an excellent example of mid-nineteenth century Greek Revival residential architecture with late-nineteenth century Victorian alterations. It is a 
two-story brick
raised cottage with exterior brick walls covered with stucco and scored to look like large blocks of stone. One unusual feature of the house is that the east, or left, elevation has never been covered with stucco. The house is also significant for its
Images courtesy of the Segars Collection – 2010
Reidville Academy Faculty House
association with the Reidville Male Academy and Reidville Female Academy, institutions that played a major role in education in upcountry South Carolina from 1858 to 1905. The academies were founded by Reverend Robert Hardin Reid (1821-1907), a Presbyterian clergyman and educator. The faculty house was built ca. 1860 as the residence for the principal of the Reidville Male High School. Both the male and female high schools remained open during the Civil War, and Reverend Reid persuaded Federal troops not to burn the schools when they camped briefly near Reidville at the end of the war in 1865. Listed in the National Register September 4, 1997.
Mrs. Grace McBrayer Wood of Greer sent me an interesting letter written to her father, mother and several other friends in Reidville by the schoolmaster of The Reidville Female Academy, Professor D. Balharrie Simpson. He writes from 7 Lily Bank Road, Dundee, Scotland. The professor is somewhat shocked at the conduct of some of his Scots brethren as compared with the people he knew in Reidville, Spartanburg County. On the stationery Professor Simpson advertises himself as a lecturer and lists three topics he is prepared to speak on: “Robert Burns, the Peasant Poet of Scotland”; “Wit, Humor, Pathos, and Poetry”; and “Edgar Allan Poe.”
Information from: Names in South Carolina by C.H. Neuffer, Published by the S.C. Dept. of English, USC
View the complete text of the nomination form for this National Register property. [Courtesy of the SC Dept. of Archives and History]
ADDITIONAL IMAGES – Courtesy of photographer Charles Payne – 2017
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- Teacherage and Female Institute
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Sloan – Epton Spartanburg Co Map ca. 1869. Courtesy of the Cobb Collection – Other Side of the River Museum, 2016
