Blackhawk Automatic Sprinklers was founded in Waterloo, Iowa, by Don Warner in 1974. The company started at a small location on Fay Street in Waterloo, but soon moved to a much larger location on Sycamore Street adjacent to the Cedar River. For years Blackhawk remained a small, family owned company with a core focus on quality and customer satisfaction. Throughout this timeframe Blackhawk mainly served the Northeastern parts of Iowa, gradually expanding it's territory to include the surrounding states of Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, and the remainder of Iowa.

In 1996, the company went through a transition from being a family owned company to a company owned by it's employees. Blackhawk continued to expand it's facilities in Downtown Waterloo until 2002, when the proposed Riverfront Renaissance project along the Cedar River brought this to an end and forced the company to find a new home. In late 2003, Blackhawk purchased the former H&H Building located on 18th Street in Cedar Falls. The facility was much larger than it's current location, but was in a state of extreme disrepair. With time on nights and weekends volunteered by it's employees, the building was completely gutted and remodeled into a state of the art facility over the next 2 years.

In June of 2005, Blackhawk officially relocated it's main offices and fabrication shop into the new facility, with the old location being purchased by the City of Waterloo. Blackhawk Sprinklers continues to reside at this new facility, and continues to adapt to an every changing business climate.