Reidsville is a city in, and county seat of, Tattnall County, Georgia. The population was 2,515 in 2020. The Georgia State Prison is near Reidsville.
History
Reidsville was founded in about 1828 and was designated county seat of Tattnall County in 1832 by the Georgia General Assembly. It was incorporated as a town in 1838 and as a city in 1905. The city was named after Robert R. Reid, territorial governor of Florida.
Reidsville is home to the Nelson Hotel Bed & Breakfast.
During World War II, Reidsville was the home to at least one, though some reports suggest two, prisoner of war camps for captured Nazi personnel. The prison camp's location is believed to have stood near the current location of a gas station/self-storage company, near the fringes of the city. Archaeological research into the area has turned up a number of German artifacts, though with the development and addition of a number of houses, it is not clear if this was the location of the camp, or one of the many onion fields in which the prisoners worked.
Geography
Reidsville is located at (32.083970, -82.120697).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which are land and (0.39%) is water.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Reidsville had a population of 2,515. The median age was 39.3 years. 28.1% of residents were under the age of 18 and 19.3% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 79.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 72.6 males age 18 and over.
0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 995 households in Reidsville, of which 694 were families. Of all households, 36.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. 30.5% were married-couple households, 18.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 43.9% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 33.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
The Georgia Department of Corrections operated the Georgia State Prison in unincorporated Tattnall County, near Reidsville. The prison closed in 2022.
Education
Tattnall County School District
The Tattnall County School District holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of three elementary schools, two middle schools, and a high school. The district has 201 full-time teachers and over 3,305 students.
Schools in Reidsville:
- Reidsville Elementary School
- North Tattnall Middle School
Nearby Tattnall County High School serves the city.
<gallery>
File:Reidsville Middle School.jpg|North Tattnall Middle School
File:Reidsville Elementary School.jpg|Reidsville Elementary School
</gallery>
Notable people
- James Kicklighter - film director, attended Reidsville Elementary School and Reidsville Middle School, before graduating from Tattnall County High School.
- Lena Baker - only woman to be executed by the electric chair in Georgia was executed in Georgia State Prison, Reidsville
- Linton McGee Collins - jurist
- Emma Gresham - was an American teacher and politician who was mayor of Keysville, Georgia.
- Jack Hill (politician) - was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Georgia's 4th District in the Georgia State Senate.