Blackman History
Since the very beginning of the settlement of Rutherford County, Blackman has played a major role in its social, economic and historical development. The land is unsurpassed in its fertility, it is level and free of rock and hills, the people have been most enterprising and this community was the breadbasket during the Civil War. There is a store at the crossroads, and it once had a post office and blacksmith shop. There were doctors to look after the sick, a school and two churches. Basically, Blackman has always been noted for its broad, rich fields and is too close to Murfreesboro to develop into a business community.
Blackman was named for one of its earliest settlers, Esquire Alfred Blackman, who came to Rutherford County from Sampson County, North Carolina, in 1808 with his father, James Blackman, and others of the family. The Blackmans, Kings and Snells came to the county near the same time, and they were related. Esquire Alfred Blackman was born at Clinton, Sampson County, North Carolina in 1790 and was 18 years of age upon arrival to this region. As the years passed he acquired much land. He put up a blacksmith shop on the southeast corner of the crossroads before the Civil War. Prior to that conflict the area was called Blackman’s Shop. In 1898, the Blackmans (five in number) petitioned for and had established a post office, and since that time the name has been called Blackman.
