Blackshear, the county seat of Pierce County, was named in honor of General David Blackshear (1764-1837). General Blackshear was responsible for commanding the troops that constructed Blackshear Road, a route between Hartford and the Flint River in the early 1800s.

The Marion Anderson Library Black Heritage Collection in Blackshear contains about 300 volumes and oil paintings addressing black heritage. This is the largest publicly accessible collection of this type in the region.