Formed December 18, 1857 (119th county)
Pierce County (19,716), Blackshear (3,505)
The red brick Neo-Classical Revival courthouse in Blackshear was built in 1903 on Plant Street at Main Street. United States Highway 84 is Plant Street in the town. James Wingfield Golucke & Company are the architects. It was enlarged in 1975 and an Annex has been added. It features columns and a fountain in front. Pierce County was created from Appling and Ware counties on December 18, 1857 as the 119th county. Blackshear has been the only county seat. The county is named for President Franklin Pierce. General David Blackshear is the namesake for the county seat.
Pierce County government consists of a manager, a sheriff, an administrator, a coroner, a clerk, and a tax commissioner (executive). It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.) Twenty-one Superior Court Judges serve Pierce, Appling, Bacon, Brantley, Bryan, Bulloch, Camden, Charlton, Chatham, Coffee, Effingham, Evans, Glynn, Jeff Davis, Jenkins, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, Screven, Tattnall, Ware, and Wayne counties and a State Judge and Six County Judges, court clerk, and county attorney serve Pierce County (judicial.) The county is located in southeast Georgia southwest of Savannah, Georgia and northeast of Valdosta, Georgia. The county is surrounded clockwise by Appling, Wayne, Brantley, Ware, and Bacon counties. The county center is 5.2 miles Northeast of Blackshear. The Satilla River forms the county’s southern border.
The area of the county is 343 square miles. It is 81 out of 159 counties in the state. It ranks 91 out of 159 in population in the state. It has a density of 57.5 persons per square mile making it 87 out of 159 in the state. Pierce County has 23.9% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 84 crosses the county from northeast to southwest, Wayne County to Ware County. The county’s shape resembles a flying squirrel. Blackshear is located in the southwest quarter of the county. Blackshear is the county seat and the largest city. It is 17.8% of the county population. This county is in the Waycross Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Blackshear
Offerman
Patterson
Waycross
