The 25 kilometer long river started to get polluted by the surrounding industries. Greenville County Historical Society), 1874 - Camperdown Mill Number 1 was built on upper falls. 1890 - At this point, there were many thriving businesses on the river in Greenville’s downtown district including a lumber shed, a wheelhouse, a paint shop, a hardware store, and an office building. The city, she says, instead has to be concerned with testing to help guide its strategies for the broader watershed — first where Richland Creek meets the Reedy, then at the Salvation Army headquarters to determine what has reached the heart of the city, another at Lake Conestee to reflect the health of the river at the farthest downstream end of the city limits and then a fourth "roaming" station as part of the city's ongoing, multimillion-dollar "Stormwater 2.0" improvement program. The school purchased land from Vardy McBee on the bluff overlooking Reedy River Falls. The resulting spill was devastating to the Reedy, essentially wiping out the entire food chain throughout a 23-mile stretch of the river. Greenville County Historical Society). (middle photo below: stone mill pictured on left side of photo. The river became the center of Greenville’s growing economy, and by the late 1800s the grist mills had given way to textile mills. Pearis also built a gristmill on the edge of the upper falls. The popular perception of the Red is one of pollution; full of raw sewage, junk and at times, dead bodies. 2002 - The removal of Camperdown bridge occurred. Getting baptized in the Reedy River. He built his plantation (Great Plains) near Reedy Falls. But all that to say, it’s not intended for anyone to ingest the water. If the pollutants have the low concentration, the river will be able to regulate it. 1800’s - Native Americans used the rock shoals at Cedar Falls as a hunting campsite and a way to cross the Reedy River. The pollutants can cause algae to grow quickly. Before colonial settlers chose Greenville, the area surrounding the Reedy River was the hunting grounds for local Catawba and Cherokee tribes. By the time the case was resolved in the Supreme Court in 1931, Conestee Mills had begun to fail because of the protracted litigation and the effects of the Great Depression. "I've found that natives, people who remember what it used to be like when it changed colors and everything else, they don't go in the river," White says. The Rhine River is a major waterway that originates from Switzerland, and flows through France, Germany and the Netherlands to reach the North Sea; the basin itself includes 9 European countries. They pulled out 13 tires, a shopping cart, a bicycle, orange work cones and a broken traffic signal. Use the links below to complete your donation. There is but one monitoring station near Falls Park — maintained by the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, not the city — and tests are run only a handful of times each year. While the James spans an extensive 358 miles, the Reedy spans 65. The River Thames From Source to Sea . Last year, a few tests that were done at the station a little ways above the falls at River Street showed levels at acceptable standards — but experts say they know better. However, the lawsuit had a major impact in the City’s construction of its first wastewater treatment plant in 1928, less than two miles upstream of the mill, and the creation of the Greater Greenville Sanitary District (now Western Carolina Regional Sewer Authority)." The agency has partnered with Adopt-a-Stream and a Midlands-based coalition that has created a weekly map of swimming conditions in the Lower Saluda area. Dissolved oxygen is in fact essential for the survival of all aquatic organisms. Is downtown Greenville poised for a hotel bust? 1870s - Wooden version of Main St. Bridge, over the Reedy River, was constructed. Though it's not necessarily unsafe to … "It's expensive. - The Reedy River was so foul until the 1970’s that no one wanted any association with it, and it had become a corridor for decrepit industry, warehouses, and brownfields. Mammals, waterfowl, and shorebirds dependent upon the riverine/riparian food chain were also affected, or at least temporarily extirpated from the Reedy corridor. Remains of the water wheel house are still visible near the river. 1815-1816 - Vardry McBee purchased most of the village where Greenville is today. The test, conducted under the Liberty Bridge to represent the most-popular wading spot, involved unsealing a provided, sterile bottle, wading into the river and placing it in the water without scooping, and without fingers touching the inside, sealing the container and putting it on ice and taking it to the lab to be cultured. 1760s - Greenville was originally founded on the banks around the Reedy River Falls. When it rains, the extra fertilizers and pesticides flow into streams. The government has designated the river as "impaired" and one of the most-polluted waterways in South Carolina. The Mississippi river valley is one of the most fertile agricultural areas. We'll have a party.". Testing for the matter that floats downstream from the digestive systems of animals is expensive and time-consuming. The Reedy River has been an important natural resource in Upstate South Carolina for hundreds of years. Whom do we blame? South Carolina is the best Carolina! It is believed that McBee constructed the first significant dam on the Reedy River at or near the site of the present Conestee dam in the 1830s. Other sources of pollutants included stormwater runoff, residential trash, pedestrian litter, agricultural waste, sewage runoff, and flooding debris. The Liberty Bridge stretches across the Reedy River in a semicircle over its majestic falls, making it so that virtually no opportunity to view the postcard of Greenville is squandered. 42 comments. E. coli is an annoyingly elusive thing, difficult to trace from day to day, even hour to hour, but it’s what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency holds as the standard for whether a waterway is suitable for swimming. Especially if the water’s cloudy or if it’s been raining. 1996 - Master Beautification and Development Plan for Falls Park established by the City of Greenville and Carolina Foothills Garden Club. 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