Lake Lanier

A man-made reservoir completed in the 1950s, built over the historically Black town of Oscarville, which was destroyed after racial violence in 1912. The lake has claimed an estimated 700 lives since 1956.

Lake Lanier is considered one of the deadliest lakes in America, with over 700 deaths since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed the reservoir in 1956. While over 10 million people visit annually, the lake claims more lives than any comparable body of water - there were 13 deaths in 2023 alone, compared to just 3 at similarly popular Lake Allatoona.

The lake was created by flooding valley communities, including the historically Black town of Oscarville. In 1912, 19-year-old Mae Crow was found dead in nearby woods, and four Black residents were blamed. Robert "Big Rob" Edwards was lynched shortly after arrest. When the government built the reservoir, they displaced over 1,000 residents along with 20 cemeteries, 15 businesses, and 6 churches. Some unmarked graves were swallowed by the waters, fueling beliefs that Lake Lanier is cursed.

The most famous legend is "The Lady of the Lake." In 1958, Delia May Parker Young and Susie Roberts left a dance early and stopped for gas, driving off without paying. Their car plunged off a bridge over Lake Lanier. A year later, a fisherman found a body in a blue dress floating in the water - no hands, too decomposed to identify. It wasn't until 1990 that divers discovered a 1950s Ford sedan at the bottom with Susie Roberts's remains inside, finally identifying the handless corpse as Delia May Parker Young. Local legend claims she now drags swimmers to their deaths.

Survivors of near-drownings report feeling unseen hands pulling them underwater. Some claim to hear church bells ringing beneath the surface, though engineers insist no church was flooded. The lake's hidden dangers are real - submerged structures and trees up to 20 meters tall lurk beneath the peaceful surface.