The town is supposedly named for the nearby Big Reedy Creek, a tributary of the Green River.

At one time prior to the 1960s, the Reedyville area's students attended the independently-run Dripping Spring School near the now-extinct community of Threlkel, which has since been demolished.

[5] From 1933–34 to 1951, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers once operated the Green River Lock and Dam Number 5, located 3 miles (4.8 km) outside of Reedyville to the south.

In 2021, after 70 years of not being used, Green River Lock and Dam Number 5 was slated to be removed to improve recreational safety and to restore free-flowing conditions to a 73 miles (117 km) course of the river from the Mammoth Cave National Park to Rochester.

[8][9][10][11] However, only a third of the dam was removed when officials realized the removal was negatively impacting the river flow and the depth;[12] low river levels also resurfaced multiple abandoned vehicles that were previously submerged by the waters near the site, as well as in areas near the former Bear Creek Ferry site,[13] and in areas further east into Edmonson County.