At just 20 miles in length and a mile wide at its widest, Lake Blackshear is one of Georgia’s smallest man-made reservoirs. It’s essentially a wide spot on the Flint River but it’s among the most popular outdoor recreation areas in South Georgia. To my knowledge, it’s also the oldest major man-made lake in Georgia, created with the damming of the Flint River between 1925-1930.
Pleasure boating and water skiing are extremely popular, as is fishing. There’s a busy put-in at Lakeshore Marine on the Sumter County side. Besides a ski shop, marina, campground, and event space, there’s the Lakeshore Grill which sells food, tackle, coolers, beer, gas and other essentials. Georgia Veterans State Park is a mile or so from here and is the primary location for public access to the lake. If you’re in the area, stop at Stripling’s for some of the best sausage around.
Vanishing Georgia: Photographs by Brian Brown 
Enjoy your pictures,do you have any information on the main building ,that was next to the beach area in the 1950 to 1960 date time…Thank you
My uncle Albert McGough was the game warden for Dooly County. Some of my earliest memories are of the Flint River and Lake Blackshear. I remember picnics at the area where the swings were and the slide seemed huge! We always took visiting family there it seemed. Later I fished with my dad James McGough all over the lake and river.
Had you turned into the road after you passed the sausage store (on the left side of the road going into Cordeal) you would have found a very old store\storage building with very interesting patterns with wood. I was told that at one time there were two plantations In this area. Brian Brown, you might want to check this out. I got permission from a man, who was cutting grass, and he told me to take all the photos I wanted to, and I certainly did. He was busy so I didn’t get any history from him but someone told me about the plantations. I would love to know more about this building.
Barbara- Thanks for the tip. I checked it out on Street View and you are spot on. It’s a great building. Church, school, or commissary. Not sure which yet. Thanks again!
I use to go to picnics at Lake Blackshear with the Lilly Baptist Church at least once every summer. Us kids would play on the swings and other playground equipment until it was time to eat. After eating and waiting what seemed a long time we we allowed to go swimming in the pool there. My aunt and uncle from Unadilla rented a cabin there for a weekend. They also took me there to eat in a restaurant and enjoy what was an early game arcade. No videos then. Great memories
Thank you for sharing the memories, Victor. I bet it was really nice back in those days.