Henderson County, Kentucky Community

Located across the Green River from Spottsville (past Beals), the town of Reed was probably named for a Dr. Reed who practiced medicine at Spottsville in the 1880s and early 1890s, but owned a large acreage in this section. When he decided to move to Texas, he offered the land at $4.00 an acre. A post office was opened in 1891 and continues to operate.

The date for the first Reed school is unknown, but as early as 1915, the Reed Community Church began holding Sunday School each week in the school, with preaching services once a month. A Methodist church was organized in 1916 and a building erected in 1917, on land given by Otto Breitschu.

The St. Augustine Catholic Church was founded in 1896. Twice the building has burned and been rebuilt first in 1916 and then in 1944. The St. Augustine School was built in 1922 and the Dominican Sisters maintained an eight-grade school for over 40 years before it was merged with the school at Stanley. It was this building that was used as a refuge during the 1937 flood until water was so deep that the refugees had to be removed by boat.

After the flood, so many families left the flood plain that attendance dropped and the local school was consolidated with Spottsville. The threat of floods has kept new businesses from moving in to the area.

from The Annals and Scandals of Henderson County, Ky.
By Maralea Arnett