October 17, 2024 • 33 mins
Can a lake haunt the living? Join Carole Townsend as I unravel the eerie mysteries of Georgia's Lake Lanier. From its creation in the 1950s by the Army Corps of Engineers to the tragic displacement of over 1,100 people, including the once-thriving Black community of Oscarville, this episode promises to uncover the chilling truth. Dive deep into the history buried beneath the lake's waters, including submerged homes, forests, and cemeteries, and learn how these remnants contribute to the lake’s haunted reputation and numerous mysterious deaths.
Prepare for a spine-tingling exploration of the inexplicable patterns of drowning deaths, mysterious boat accidents, and supernatural occurrences that have plagued Lake Lanier. Hear real-life accounts of strong swimmers feeling invisible hands pulling them underwater and other unexplained tragedies.
I love hearing from listeners. Please write a review and rate the show. And please, tell your friends and share episodes on your social media.
You can connect with me by clicking the links below.
Facebook:
Instagram:
Website:
Tiktok:
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carole Townsend (00:06):
Georgia's Lake Sydney-Lenire, more commonly
known simply as Lake Lenire, isa breathtakingly beautiful body
of water with nearly 700 milesof shoreline.
At full summer pool the lake is1,071 feet above sea level At
(00:26):
Beaufort Dam.
Lake Lanier is its deepest, at160 feet From above.
The water is a deep blue-greenand its shores are lined with
thick, evergreen pine trees.
The sun shimmers and dancesacross the rippling waves.
Boat docks and marinas jut outinto the water.
(00:49):
Man-made beaches, elegant homes, hotels and golf courses beckon
visitors to come and play onthis sparkling jewel located in
North Georgia.
In fact, nearly 12 millionpeople visit Lake Lanier each
year.
Why then do the rumors andlegends of a haunted lake
(01:15):
persist?
Here in the South, we love ourstories.
We begin in childhood huddledaround campfires, whispering of
things best spoken in the dark,confiding in our small trusting
circles.
Why is that, do you suppose?
(01:36):
I have researched andinvestigated Southern history
for more than 20 years and Ibelieve it has to do with this
region itself.
There's a lot that hangs in theether here and much that is
buried deep in the soil.
There's beauty here in theSouth and shame and courage, and
(01:59):
, make no mistake, there is evil.
There's always been the elementof the unexplained, the just
out of reach that we can allfeel but can never quite
describe, and the best place fortelling tales about such things
is the comfort and safety of anold front porch.
So I invite you tonight to comeup here with me, settle back
(02:24):
into a chair and get comfortable, pour yourself a drink if you
like, and I'll share with yousome of the tales best told in
the company of friends, talesthat prove that truth really is
stranger than fiction, and I'llturn on the light.
You're going to want that.
I'm Carole Townsend.
(02:45):
Welcome to my front porch.
The following podcast containsmaterial that may be disturbing.
Listener discretion is advised.
Listener discretion is advised.
(03:06):
Named for Sidney Lanier, thepoet and Confederate soldier who
wrote Song of the ChattahoocheeLake, lanier is steeped in rich
history.
This reservoir was created bythe Army Corps of Engineers back
in the 1950s and today it isone of the most popular core
(03:28):
owned lakes in the country.
The lake was built by dammingthe chattahoochee river and it
is also fed by the chastityriver.
The purpose for building thedam was to create a lake that
would serve as a hydroelectricpower source to control flooding
in the region and to providewater for fast-growing
(03:50):
metropolitan Atlanta.
It's important to note herethat, believe it or not, lake
Lanier was never designed forrecreational use.
Yes, you heard that right.
A lake with about 12 millionvisitors every year, 76 parks
(04:10):
and 1,200 campsites and 10full-service marinas was not
originally intended forrecreational use.
But since the 1950s, more than700 people have lost their lives
in the dark, secret waters ofLake Lanier.
In order to understand thebeauty, the purpose and the
(04:36):
enigma, as well as the tragedies, that plague Lake Lanier, it's
best to start at the beginning.
Ground was broken for theconstruction of Buford Dam in
1950.
Several locations for the newlake had been considered by
lawmakers, including the city ofRoswell.
(04:56):
Georgia Area residentsprotested, so the current site,
more suitable, is about 60 milesnorth of Atlanta.
50,000 acres of land had to beacquired by the Corps of
Engineers, land that was locatedin the counties of Dawson,
(05:18):
forsyth, gwinnett Hall andLumpkin Gwinnett Hall and
Lumpkin Much of this land wasfarmland property that had been
in families for generations, andsome of that land was an actual
town named Oscarville.
(05:39):
More than 1,100 people weredisplaced by the creation of
Lake Lanier.
Some went willingly, otherswere forced from their homes.
The landowners, who werecompensated for their homes and
land received anywhere between$30 and $50 per acre.
(06:00):
The community of Oscarville wasformed in the late 1880s, during
the Reconstruction erafollowing the Civil War.
It was a thriving blackcommunity that had skilled
tradespeople among its citizenscarpenters, blacksmiths,
bricklayers and storekeepers butfarming was by far the top
(06:24):
trade in the area.
In fact, farms and otherbusinesses in Oscarville were
healthy and successful, whileother areas in the state of
Georgia were still struggling.
At least, this was the caseuntil 1912, when Mae Crow, a
19-year-old white woman, wasfound dead in the woods near
(06:47):
Oscarville, presumably alsohaving been raped.
During that dark time in ourhistory when a white woman was
raped, it was common for groupscalled Knight Riders to
terrorize the closest blackcommunity in the dark cover of
night.
The May Crow incident was nodifferent, and the town of
(07:12):
Oscarville was indeed attacked.
During the night after hermurder, the Knight Riders set
fires throughout the town, andchurches where Oscarville
residents sought refuge from theattack were set ablaze with
firebombs.
Those who weren't killed by theKnight Riders ran for their
(07:32):
lives, quite literally, leavingtheir homes and their land
behind never to return.
Two young African American men,ages 16 and 18, were marched to
their death and hung for thecrimes against May Crow.
Thus began the racial cleansingof Forsyth County, georgia.
(07:54):
The area remained white onlyfor the next 80 years.
Whites eventually assumedownership of the abandoned
properties in Oscarville, andwhen the Corps of Engineers
began buying up acreage for theconstruction of Lake Lanier, it
(08:15):
was sold by those same people,or the government simply
appropriated it.
When the dam was finished, waterbegan covering the land.
It would take more than threeyears for the lake to reach full
capacity.
As the water crept and lickedat the land it was devouring, it
(08:36):
was also covering homes, stores, chicken houses, churches,
forests, chicken houses,churches, forests and even a
racetrack and 20 cemeteries.
While the bodies resting inmarked graves were exhumed and
(09:00):
relocated with permission fromfamily members, some souls still
sleep under the murky water.
Just how many bodies remain intheir underwater graves is
unknown, because, you see, alarge Cherokee cultural and
burial mound, known as theSummer Hour Mound, was also
swallowed up by the waters ofLake Lanier.
It was discovered just a fewyears before the lake was built
(09:25):
and therefore never fullyexcavated and explored.
It was most certainly notrespected as the sacred grounds
that it was.
The mound was 250 feet long by200 feet wide and it was
possibly the oldest such moundin the southeastern United
(09:46):
States.
No effort was ever made torelocate the bodies inside that
mound and now it too rests atthe bottom of Lake Lanier.
And let's not forget that inthe 1830s Cherokee and other
Native American nations weredriven from their ancestral
(10:07):
lands, including North Georgiaand the site of Lake Lanier, and
forced to walk the Trail ofTears, an 800-mile trek to land
in Oklahoma, designated by theUS government for an estimated
100,000 Native Americans.
Historians estimate that 15,000people died along that grueling
(10:34):
death march.
That brief synopsis of the darkdetails of the lake's history
goes a long way towardunderstanding why Lake Lanier is
considered a haunted, even acursed, place.
The area's history is stainedby murder, racial cleansing,
(10:57):
terror, theft and desecration.
To many, this knowledge aloneexplains why Lake Lanier is one
of the deadliest lakes in theUnited States.
What must also be understoodabout the lake is that it's deep
, its waters are dark and murky,and the lake bottom is actually
(11:21):
covered with towns, forests,bridges, farm structures,
telephone poles and debris sothick and dangerous that the
lake can't be dragged.
Should a swimmer or boaterdisappear, the depth of the
water can change drasticallywith just one step, taking
(11:41):
swimmers and waders by surprise.
Visibility underwater is nearzero.
Recovery divers and now roboticdivers are tasked with slowly
crawling and feeling their waycarefully along the lake bottom,
searching for bodies that neverresurfaced.
(12:03):
It's a daunting undertaking andan estimated 27 bodies remain
under the surface of the lakeBodies of swimmers, boaters,
fishermen and even roadtravelers who slipped or plunged
beneath the water never toresurface.
(12:23):
Also of interest in the lake,divers tell stories of seeing
catfish as biggest wheelbarrowsin the deepest part of the lake
near Beaufort Dam.
While the largest catfish onrecord caught out of Lake Lanier
is just under 52 pounds, thesestories persist.
(12:46):
Legend has it that decades agoa truck carrying a load of live
chickens overturned on ThompsonBridge and tumbled into the lake
.
When divers went in the waterto investigate, they came back
with tales of giant catfishswallowing the chickens, whole
(13:08):
Of the swimmers and other lakerevelers who have had close
calls in Lake Lanier andsurvived.
Some common threads run amongtheir experiences.
First, many of the drowningdeaths on Lake Lanier occur
close to shore in calm weatherand water conditions.
Second, an astonishing numberof drownings and near drownings
(13:33):
have involved strong, evencompetitive, swimmers.
Third, the most puzzling andmysterious common experience is
the sensation that these peoplefelt as they struggled to reach
the surface, a sensation ofinvisible groping hands pulling
(13:54):
them deeper underwater.
I have personally interviewedswimmers who have told me this
last, and it's clear that theyare still shaken by the
experience.
Boaters who have experiencedtragedy on the lake recount
stories of sudden powerful roguewaves that capsize their boats,
or of hitting something in thewater and crashing or capsizing.
(14:15):
But when the crash site isexplored later, nothing unusual
can be found by divers.
Boats catch fire and boatsexplode on Lake Lanier catch
fire and boats explode on LakeLanier.
(14:35):
Now, to be fair, many of LakeLanier's victims have likely
been claimed because theswimmers, boaters, skiers and
tubers lacked experience, orbecause of excessive alcohol
consumption, and because thelake bottom is frankly and
because the lake bottom isfrankly quite dangerous.
Strong swimmers tell stories ofbecoming entangled in fishing
line, caught in underwater treesweaving a treacherous web
(15:03):
awaiting the next victim, andthe sheer number of annual
visitors to the lake mustaccount for the shocking number
of deaths.
Visitors to the lake mustaccount for the shocking number
of deaths, more than 700 sincethe river was dammed and the
lake began filling with water.
Lake Lanier has gained such analarming reputation for taking
the lives of those who flock toenjoy it that drastic measures
(15:26):
have been taken and even moresuggested, to curb the
inevitable rise in the deathtoll every year.
A popular beach and water parkat Lake Lanier actually closed
its wildly popular beach toswimmers, though sun lovers may
still enjoy the white sand,while no specific reason for
(15:49):
this move was offered by themanagement company other than
guest safety.
The move followed the recentnear-drowning of a four-year-old
child and the drowning of a20-year-old man in 2022.
Both incidents happened in thedesignated swimming area at the
resort.
(16:09):
Sadly, the child was leftdisabled and his family was
awarded $16 million as a resultof the tragic accident.
The family also requested asafety assessment of the
swimming area at the park andshortly thereafter, swimming at
(16:35):
the resort's beach wasprohibited.
Incidentally, the drowned man'sbody was located using
side-scan sonar, a system usedfor detecting objects on the sea
floor.
Remember, the designatedswimming area was supposed to be
safe and hazard-free.
Not all of the deaths on thelake have been drownings.
(16:55):
There have been horrific boatcollisions, water tubers hit by
speedboats and recently a boatchair became unbolted, dumping a
fisherman into the lake.
He never resurfaced.
Cars have careened off the roadand plunged into the black
depths.
(17:15):
Swimmers have simplydisappeared.
There is the recent case of ahealthy young man who wandered
away from his home in the middleof the night.
One month later, a fishermandiscovered his body floating in
Lake Lanier, miles away from hishome.
(17:36):
He was still wearing hispajamas and he had a single
gunshot wound to his head.
Why was he there?
Twelve years ago, a 16-year-oldgirl disappeared from her home
in an apartment complex near thelake.
Her body was discovered thenext morning in the woods beside
(17:59):
the lake.
She had been stabbed multipletimes During the night.
She had sent out severalmysterious tweets.
During the night, she had sentout several mysterious tweets.
Some referred to herunhappiness with her life and
(18:20):
one referred to a man who hadbeen stalking her.
One of her unnerving tweetsread I am so scared right now.
In 2023, a swimmer jumped from aboat dock into the lake and was
electrocuted, apparentlybecause of the electrical power
box on the dock.
The dock was less than threeyears old and it had been
(18:42):
properly wired by a licensedelectrician.
During that same weekend, a61-year-old man dove off the
side of his boat and immediatelybecame distressed, shouting for
a life jacket.
Onlookers last saw himunderwater at an estimated 45
(19:02):
feet deep With the help of asonar system and an Apple Watch.
The man was wearing aremote-operated vehicle found
his body in 110 feet of wateraround 9 pm that evening.
On that very same Saturday,july 29, a 27-year-old man
(19:24):
simply vanished while swimming.
His body was found five dayslater floating just 30 yards
from shore.
The deadliest day on LakeLanier was on Christmas Day,
1964, when a driver lost controlof his car while crossing a
bridge.
The car flipped and thenplunged into the lake.
(19:46):
Five children and two adultsdrowned.
Sadly, if the weather is niceand in Georgia that could mean
any time between February andDecember locals are accustomed
to hearing frequent news reportsof deaths on the lake.
These reports have becomecommonplace.
(20:09):
Of deaths on the lake.
These reports have becomecommonplace.
The notion of draining LakeLanier and cleaning up the
treacherous lake bottom has beensuggested.
Fashion designer Tamika Foster,whose ex-husband is R&B singer
Usher, posed this idea when her11-year-old son was tragically
struck and killed by a jet skierin 2012.
(20:32):
Foster was able to getthousands of signatures on a
petition that suggested drainingthe lake, cleaning up the
bottom and implementing stricterrecreational and watercraft
guidelines and watercraftguidelines.
A spokesperson for the ArmyCorps of Engineers said that
(20:52):
draining the lake would beimpossible, as too many people
depend on that resource forpower and for water.
The list of strange, evenbizarre, deaths on, in and
around Lake Lanier goes on andon.
There may very well beplausible logical reasons for
(21:14):
each and every one of them, butone has to stop and ponder the
sheer numbers of lives claimedby this lake.
What exactly is at work here orat play here?
Perhaps we should examine therepeated sightings, hauntings,
(21:35):
apparitions and experiences thathave been reported by many for
nearly 70 years.
Who or what dwells under thesurface of Georgia's most
popular and most deadly lake?
When any place in the worldgains notoriety for claiming
(21:58):
lives, stories, tall tales andso-called urban legends are
bound to surface.
With social media at ourfingertips today.
With social media at ourfingertips today, these tales
often catch like wildfire,sizzle for a few days and then
sputter out.
But there was a time, beforesocial media and instant,
(22:20):
round-the-clock news, when suchlore was passed strictly by word
of mouth or by sharedexperience.
The stories persisted anyway.
There have been sightings ofapparitions on Lake Lanier, and
the experiences of those whowitnessed them are eerily
(22:40):
similar, though miles anddecades apart.
Voices have been heard underthe water.
Faces have been seen floatingin the deep, faces so real, in
fact, that swimmers have reachedout to touch them.
People have recounted theexperience of feeling hands
(23:03):
pulling them down into thedepths or of hands pushing them
down into the water as theystruggle to reach the surface.
A mysterious woman has beenseen walking back and forth in
one area of Lake Lanier fordecades.
She seems lost Long-time localresidents have said that she
(23:26):
waits for someone to come tooclose to the water's edge and
then pulls them into thechilling water and down to the
lake bottom.
A man on an old raft with asingle lantern hanging from a
pole has been seen on the lakein the wee hours of the morning.
The man has even attempted totalk to other boaters and
(23:49):
fishermen, sometimes diving intothe water and swimming toward
them.
A houseboat that reportedlyrests on the lake bottom is said
to be haunted by the spirits ofthose who used to reside on the
boat.
The small community of Van Pughis another place swallowed up
(24:10):
by the waters of Lake Lanier.
The community church bell canstill be heard ringing
underwater, as if reminding lakevisitors that it was once a
place of worship that sat on dryland and should still be there.
There seem to be as many storiesof lake hauntings as there are
(24:32):
actual tragic deaths.
Tonight, let's take a look atsome of the more persistent
tales, tales that have survivedlargely intact for generations.
The Lady of the Lake isprobably Lake Lanier's most
(24:56):
well-known ghost story.
On the evening of April 16,1958, delia Mae Parker and Susie
Roberts were out joyriding,heading for the Three Gables, a
sort of dance hall roadhouse inDawsonville, georgia.
Delia had borrowed a blue dressjust for the occasion.
(25:17):
The women had just gassed uptheir car and, feeling reckless,
they had sped away from the gasstation without paying,
laughing and having a good time.
Susie, who was driving a littletoo fast across a bridge that
(25:37):
spanned one section of the lake,lost control of the car,
crossed the center line andcrashed through the rail at the
edge of the bridge.
Her 1954 Ford sedan plungedinto the icy water below.
Divers were called to the scenewhen the women were reported
missing because of skid marksthat clearly indicated what had
(25:58):
happened on the bridge.
They searched for a vehicle andfor the women's bodies, but
found nothing.
The two women's families had noidea what had become of them.
More than a year later, a bodyfloated up from the depths of
Lake Lanier and was discoveredby a fisherman Badly decomposed.
(26:22):
The body could have only beenidentified using dental records,
but alas, there were no teethto be examined.
The body was, however, missingtwo toes and both hands.
However missing two toes andboth hands, the unidentified
body was buried in Alta VistaCemetery in Gainesville with no
(26:43):
identifying grave marker.
Since the women went missing,locals began claiming that they
had seen a woman pacing thebridge and the highway as if she
had lost something and waslooking for it.
She wore a blue dress and shehad no hands.
32 years later, constructionworkers doing some underwater
(27:10):
extensions on that same bridgefound a blue 1950s Ford sedan
resting at the bottom of LakeLanier under 90 feet of water.
Inside the rusted, wrecked Fordsedan were human bones, later
determined to be those of SusieRoberts.
(27:32):
She too, was buried in AltaVista Cemetery.
The body that had been buriedin an unmarked grave 32 years
earlier was determined to havebeen that of Delia Mae Parker.
Her family had a headstone madefor her grave, and today both
(27:52):
women are together again.
Their night of carefree funended in tragedy in the dark,
cold depths of an unforgivingbody of water.
Another legend of the lakelives on, having survived
generations of telling andretelling by locals and visitors
(28:12):
alike.
Late-night boaters andfishermen tell of a shadowy
figure on a raft in the waterwith a single lantern hanging
from a pole on the raft.
The figure and most assume itis a man slowly and quietly
pushes his raft through thewater using a pole and pushing
(28:34):
along the lake bottom.
This last seems quiteimpossible, as the locations of
the sightings have been in noless than 50 feet of water.
Still the figure drifts quietlyby.
In one particularly harrowingincident, two fishermen reported
being on the water at about 1am, their boat tied underneath a
(28:57):
bridge.
Two fishermen reported being onthe water at about 1 am, their
boat tied underneath a bridge.
This is a common practice forfishermen.
These two men both said theysaw the man on the raft pushing
quietly along in the water, hislantern swaying slightly with
each push.
Surprisingly, the man on theraft began shouting to the
(29:18):
fishermen urgently, trying toget their attention.
He then dove into the water andbegan swimming toward them,
startled the two men, untiedtheir boat and motored toward
shore.
Sure the men meant them harmwhen they turned back to look at
him, he and the raft were gone,though the water still rippled
(29:41):
with his small wake.
Swimmers have said often that assoon as they entered the waters
of Lake Lanier they feltdrained of all energy, even
exhausted, and they found itdifficult to swim and to breathe
.
Thoughts of despair andhopelessness take over and they
(30:03):
struggle to think of reasons toswim to the surface or to the
shore.
Some have even reported adesire to stay underwater and to
drift deeper into the colddepths, and to drift deeper into
the cold depths.
Still.
Others have reported seeingfaces under the water, some
drifting peacefully, someclearly distraught and still
(30:27):
others appearing furious.
Others say they've heard voicesunder the water and still
others are sure that they haveheard church bells ringing.
Are all of these tales, passeddown through generations by
people of all backgrounds, theproduct of mass hysteria?
Are these legends shared simplybecause we love the mystery of
(30:55):
it all?
Or can the more than 700 deathson this massive body of water
be attributed to high boattraffic, or reckless behavior,
or excessive alcohol consumptionor just inexperience?
No matter the reasons, real orimagined danger surely lurks in
the waters of Lake Lanier.
(31:15):
Perhaps tighter boating andalcohol consumption laws will
put an end to the ever-risingdeath toll.
We can certainly hope so, can'twe?
Until then, I strongly advisethat you proceed with caution.
Not everything that is shinyand beautiful is as it seems,
(31:38):
and water can cover many things,but not its own history.
Join me next time as we travelto 19th century New Orleans'
French Quarter and the hauntedLaLaurie Mansion, in a city
known for its dark associationwith the occult, where the veil
(32:02):
between the living and the deadis purported to be its thinnest.
Why, in the city famous for itsfellowship with the occult, has
this elegant mansion been namedthe most terrifying?
I'm Carole Townsend, veterannewspaper journalist and
(32:27):
six-time award-winning author.
You can find me on social mediaand check out my website at
caroltownsendcom and check outmy website at caroletownsend.
com.
As always, thanks for listeningand if you're enjoying these
tales of Southern history andlore, I hope you'll tell your
friends.
Subscribe to this podcast onSpotify, apple Play, iheart and
(32:59):
anywhere you listen.
My team and I benefited fromthe following research and
writings to bring this tale toyou the Haunting of Lake Lanier,
oxfordamericanorg, dated June1st 2021.
Lakelanierislandscom 2021 LakeLanier Islandscom.
(33:23):
Us Army Corps of Engineers,mobile District.
Lake Sydney, lanier and theeerie story under Lake Lanier in
USA Today, may 10th 2024.
Georgia's Lake Sydney-Lenire, more commonly
known simply as Lake Lenire, isa breathtakingly beautiful body
of water with nearly 700 milesof shoreline.
At full summer pool the lake is1,071 feet above sea level At
(00:26):
Beaufort Dam.
Lake Lanier is its deepest, at160 feet From above.
The water is a deep blue-greenand its shores are lined with
thick, evergreen pine trees.
The sun shimmers and dancesacross the rippling waves.
Boat docks and marinas jut outinto the water.
(00:49):
Man-made beaches, elegant homes, hotels and golf courses beckon
visitors to come and play onthis sparkling jewel located in
North Georgia.
In fact, nearly 12 millionpeople visit Lake Lanier each
year.
Why then do the rumors andlegends of a haunted lake
(01:15):
persist?
Here in the South, we love ourstories.
We begin in childhood huddledaround campfires, whispering of
things best spoken in the dark,confiding in our small trusting
circles.
Why is that, do you suppose?
(01:36):
I have researched andinvestigated Southern history
for more than 20 years and Ibelieve it has to do with this
region itself.
There's a lot that hangs in theether here and much that is
buried deep in the soil.
There's beauty here in theSouth and shame and courage, and
(01:59):
, make no mistake, there is evil.
There's always been the elementof the unexplained, the just
out of reach that we can allfeel but can never quite
describe, and the best place fortelling tales about such things
is the comfort and safety of anold front porch.
So I invite you tonight to comeup here with me, settle back
(02:24):
into a chair and get comfortable, pour yourself a drink if you
like, and I'll share with yousome of the tales best told in
the company of friends, talesthat prove that truth really is
stranger than fiction, and I'llturn on the light.
You're going to want that.
I'm Carole Townsend.
(02:45):
Welcome to my front porch.
The following podcast containsmaterial that may be disturbing.
Listener discretion is advised.
Listener discretion is advised.
(03:06):
Named for Sidney Lanier, thepoet and Confederate soldier who
wrote Song of the ChattahoocheeLake, lanier is steeped in rich
history.
This reservoir was created bythe Army Corps of Engineers back
in the 1950s and today it isone of the most popular core
(03:28):
owned lakes in the country.
The lake was built by dammingthe chattahoochee river and it
is also fed by the chastityriver.
The purpose for building thedam was to create a lake that
would serve as a hydroelectricpower source to control flooding
in the region and to providewater for fast-growing
(03:50):
metropolitan Atlanta.
It's important to note herethat, believe it or not, lake
Lanier was never designed forrecreational use.
Yes, you heard that right.
A lake with about 12 millionvisitors every year, 76 parks
(04:10):
and 1,200 campsites and 10full-service marinas was not
originally intended forrecreational use.
But since the 1950s, more than700 people have lost their lives
in the dark, secret waters ofLake Lanier.
In order to understand thebeauty, the purpose and the
(04:36):
enigma, as well as the tragedies, that plague Lake Lanier, it's
best to start at the beginning.
Ground was broken for theconstruction of Buford Dam in
1950.
Several locations for the newlake had been considered by
lawmakers, including the city ofRoswell.
(04:56):
Georgia Area residentsprotested, so the current site,
more suitable, is about 60 milesnorth of Atlanta.
50,000 acres of land had to beacquired by the Corps of
Engineers, land that was locatedin the counties of Dawson,
(05:18):
forsyth, gwinnett Hall andLumpkin Gwinnett Hall and
Lumpkin Much of this land wasfarmland property that had been
in families for generations, andsome of that land was an actual
town named Oscarville.
(05:39):
More than 1,100 people weredisplaced by the creation of
Lake Lanier.
Some went willingly, otherswere forced from their homes.
The landowners, who werecompensated for their homes and
land received anywhere between$30 and $50 per acre.
(06:00):
The community of Oscarville wasformed in the late 1880s, during
the Reconstruction erafollowing the Civil War.
It was a thriving blackcommunity that had skilled
tradespeople among its citizenscarpenters, blacksmiths,
bricklayers and storekeepers butfarming was by far the top
(06:24):
trade in the area.
In fact, farms and otherbusinesses in Oscarville were
healthy and successful, whileother areas in the state of
Georgia were still struggling.
At least, this was the caseuntil 1912, when Mae Crow, a
19-year-old white woman, wasfound dead in the woods near
(06:47):
Oscarville, presumably alsohaving been raped.
During that dark time in ourhistory when a white woman was
raped, it was common for groupscalled Knight Riders to
terrorize the closest blackcommunity in the dark cover of
night.
The May Crow incident was nodifferent, and the town of
(07:12):
Oscarville was indeed attacked.
During the night after hermurder, the Knight Riders set
fires throughout the town, andchurches where Oscarville
residents sought refuge from theattack were set ablaze with
firebombs.
Those who weren't killed by theKnight Riders ran for their
(07:32):
lives, quite literally, leavingtheir homes and their land
behind never to return.
Two young African American men,ages 16 and 18, were marched to
their death and hung for thecrimes against May Crow.
Thus began the racial cleansingof Forsyth County, georgia.
(07:54):
The area remained white onlyfor the next 80 years.
Whites eventually assumedownership of the abandoned
properties in Oscarville, andwhen the Corps of Engineers
began buying up acreage for theconstruction of Lake Lanier, it
(08:15):
was sold by those same people,or the government simply
appropriated it.
When the dam was finished, waterbegan covering the land.
It would take more than threeyears for the lake to reach full
capacity.
As the water crept and lickedat the land it was devouring, it
(08:36):
was also covering homes, stores, chicken houses, churches,
forests, chicken houses,churches, forests and even a
racetrack and 20 cemeteries.
While the bodies resting inmarked graves were exhumed and
(09:00):
relocated with permission fromfamily members, some souls still
sleep under the murky water.
Just how many bodies remain intheir underwater graves is
unknown, because, you see, alarge Cherokee cultural and
burial mound, known as theSummer Hour Mound, was also
swallowed up by the waters ofLake Lanier.
It was discovered just a fewyears before the lake was built
(09:25):
and therefore never fullyexcavated and explored.
It was most certainly notrespected as the sacred grounds
that it was.
The mound was 250 feet long by200 feet wide and it was
possibly the oldest such moundin the southeastern United
(09:46):
States.
No effort was ever made torelocate the bodies inside that
mound and now it too rests atthe bottom of Lake Lanier.
And let's not forget that inthe 1830s Cherokee and other
Native American nations weredriven from their ancestral
(10:07):
lands, including North Georgiaand the site of Lake Lanier, and
forced to walk the Trail ofTears, an 800-mile trek to land
in Oklahoma, designated by theUS government for an estimated
100,000 Native Americans.
Historians estimate that 15,000people died along that grueling
(10:34):
death march.
That brief synopsis of the darkdetails of the lake's history
goes a long way towardunderstanding why Lake Lanier is
considered a haunted, even acursed, place.
The area's history is stainedby murder, racial cleansing,
(10:57):
terror, theft and desecration.
To many, this knowledge aloneexplains why Lake Lanier is one
of the deadliest lakes in theUnited States.
What must also be understoodabout the lake is that it's deep
, its waters are dark and murky,and the lake bottom is actually
(11:21):
covered with towns, forests,bridges, farm structures,
telephone poles and debris sothick and dangerous that the
lake can't be dragged.
Should a swimmer or boaterdisappear, the depth of the
water can change drasticallywith just one step, taking
(11:41):
swimmers and waders by surprise.
Visibility underwater is nearzero.
Recovery divers and now roboticdivers are tasked with slowly
crawling and feeling their waycarefully along the lake bottom,
searching for bodies that neverresurfaced.
(12:03):
It's a daunting undertaking andan estimated 27 bodies remain
under the surface of the lakeBodies of swimmers, boaters,
fishermen and even roadtravelers who slipped or plunged
beneath the water never toresurface.
(12:23):
Also of interest in the lake,divers tell stories of seeing
catfish as biggest wheelbarrowsin the deepest part of the lake
near Beaufort Dam.
While the largest catfish onrecord caught out of Lake Lanier
is just under 52 pounds, thesestories persist.
(12:46):
Legend has it that decades agoa truck carrying a load of live
chickens overturned on ThompsonBridge and tumbled into the lake
.
When divers went in the waterto investigate, they came back
with tales of giant catfishswallowing the chickens, whole
(13:08):
Of the swimmers and other lakerevelers who have had close
calls in Lake Lanier andsurvived.
Some common threads run amongtheir experiences.
First, many of the drowningdeaths on Lake Lanier occur
close to shore in calm weatherand water conditions.
Second, an astonishing numberof drownings and near drownings
(13:33):
have involved strong, evencompetitive, swimmers.
Third, the most puzzling andmysterious common experience is
the sensation that these peoplefelt as they struggled to reach
the surface, a sensation ofinvisible groping hands pulling
(13:54):
them deeper underwater.
I have personally interviewedswimmers who have told me this
last, and it's clear that theyare still shaken by the
experience.
Boaters who have experiencedtragedy on the lake recount
stories of sudden powerful roguewaves that capsize their boats,
or of hitting something in thewater and crashing or capsizing.
(14:15):
But when the crash site isexplored later, nothing unusual
can be found by divers.
Boats catch fire and boatsexplode on Lake Lanier catch
fire and boats explode on LakeLanier.
(14:35):
Now, to be fair, many of LakeLanier's victims have likely
been claimed because theswimmers, boaters, skiers and
tubers lacked experience, orbecause of excessive alcohol
consumption, and because thelake bottom is frankly and
because the lake bottom isfrankly quite dangerous.
Strong swimmers tell stories ofbecoming entangled in fishing
line, caught in underwater treesweaving a treacherous web
(15:03):
awaiting the next victim, andthe sheer number of annual
visitors to the lake mustaccount for the shocking number
of deaths.
Visitors to the lake mustaccount for the shocking number
of deaths, more than 700 sincethe river was dammed and the
lake began filling with water.
Lake Lanier has gained such analarming reputation for taking
the lives of those who flock toenjoy it that drastic measures
(15:26):
have been taken and even moresuggested, to curb the
inevitable rise in the deathtoll every year.
A popular beach and water parkat Lake Lanier actually closed
its wildly popular beach toswimmers, though sun lovers may
still enjoy the white sand,while no specific reason for
(15:49):
this move was offered by themanagement company other than
guest safety.
The move followed the recentnear-drowning of a four-year-old
child and the drowning of a20-year-old man in 2022.
Both incidents happened in thedesignated swimming area at the
resort.
(16:09):
Sadly, the child was leftdisabled and his family was
awarded $16 million as a resultof the tragic accident.
The family also requested asafety assessment of the
swimming area at the park andshortly thereafter, swimming at
(16:35):
the resort's beach wasprohibited.
Incidentally, the drowned man'sbody was located using
side-scan sonar, a system usedfor detecting objects on the sea
floor.
Remember, the designatedswimming area was supposed to be
safe and hazard-free.
Not all of the deaths on thelake have been drownings.
(16:55):
There have been horrific boatcollisions, water tubers hit by
speedboats and recently a boatchair became unbolted, dumping a
fisherman into the lake.
He never resurfaced.
Cars have careened off the roadand plunged into the black
depths.
(17:15):
Swimmers have simplydisappeared.
There is the recent case of ahealthy young man who wandered
away from his home in the middleof the night.
One month later, a fishermandiscovered his body floating in
Lake Lanier, miles away from hishome.
(17:36):
He was still wearing hispajamas and he had a single
gunshot wound to his head.
Why was he there?
Twelve years ago, a 16-year-oldgirl disappeared from her home
in an apartment complex near thelake.
Her body was discovered thenext morning in the woods beside
(17:59):
the lake.
She had been stabbed multipletimes During the night.
She had sent out severalmysterious tweets.
During the night, she had sentout several mysterious tweets.
Some referred to herunhappiness with her life and
(18:20):
one referred to a man who hadbeen stalking her.
One of her unnerving tweetsread I am so scared right now.
In 2023, a swimmer jumped from aboat dock into the lake and was
electrocuted, apparentlybecause of the electrical power
box on the dock.
The dock was less than threeyears old and it had been
(18:42):
properly wired by a licensedelectrician.
During that same weekend, a61-year-old man dove off the
side of his boat and immediatelybecame distressed, shouting for
a life jacket.
Onlookers last saw himunderwater at an estimated 45
(19:02):
feet deep With the help of asonar system and an Apple Watch.
The man was wearing aremote-operated vehicle found
his body in 110 feet of wateraround 9 pm that evening.
On that very same Saturday,july 29, a 27-year-old man
(19:24):
simply vanished while swimming.
His body was found five dayslater floating just 30 yards
from shore.
The deadliest day on LakeLanier was on Christmas Day,
1964, when a driver lost controlof his car while crossing a
bridge.
The car flipped and thenplunged into the lake.
(19:46):
Five children and two adultsdrowned.
Sadly, if the weather is niceand in Georgia that could mean
any time between February andDecember locals are accustomed
to hearing frequent news reportsof deaths on the lake.
These reports have becomecommonplace.
(20:09):
Of deaths on the lake.
These reports have becomecommonplace.
The notion of draining LakeLanier and cleaning up the
treacherous lake bottom has beensuggested.
Fashion designer Tamika Foster,whose ex-husband is R&B singer
Usher, posed this idea when her11-year-old son was tragically
struck and killed by a jet skierin 2012.
(20:32):
Foster was able to getthousands of signatures on a
petition that suggested drainingthe lake, cleaning up the
bottom and implementing stricterrecreational and watercraft
guidelines and watercraftguidelines.
A spokesperson for the ArmyCorps of Engineers said that
(20:52):
draining the lake would beimpossible, as too many people
depend on that resource forpower and for water.
The list of strange, evenbizarre, deaths on, in and
around Lake Lanier goes on andon.
There may very well beplausible logical reasons for
(21:14):
each and every one of them, butone has to stop and ponder the
sheer numbers of lives claimedby this lake.
What exactly is at work here orat play here?
Perhaps we should examine therepeated sightings, hauntings,
(21:35):
apparitions and experiences thathave been reported by many for
nearly 70 years.
Who or what dwells under thesurface of Georgia's most
popular and most deadly lake?
When any place in the worldgains notoriety for claiming
(21:58):
lives, stories, tall tales andso-called urban legends are
bound to surface.
With social media at ourfingertips today.
With social media at ourfingertips today, these tales
often catch like wildfire,sizzle for a few days and then
sputter out.
But there was a time, beforesocial media and instant,
(22:20):
round-the-clock news, when suchlore was passed strictly by word
of mouth or by sharedexperience.
The stories persisted anyway.
There have been sightings ofapparitions on Lake Lanier, and
the experiences of those whowitnessed them are eerily
(22:40):
similar, though miles anddecades apart.
Voices have been heard underthe water.
Faces have been seen floatingin the deep, faces so real, in
fact, that swimmers have reachedout to touch them.
People have recounted theexperience of feeling hands
(23:03):
pulling them down into thedepths or of hands pushing them
down into the water as theystruggle to reach the surface.
A mysterious woman has beenseen walking back and forth in
one area of Lake Lanier fordecades.
She seems lost Long-time localresidents have said that she
(23:26):
waits for someone to come tooclose to the water's edge and
then pulls them into thechilling water and down to the
lake bottom.
A man on an old raft with asingle lantern hanging from a
pole has been seen on the lakein the wee hours of the morning.
The man has even attempted totalk to other boaters and
(23:49):
fishermen, sometimes diving intothe water and swimming toward
them.
A houseboat that reportedlyrests on the lake bottom is said
to be haunted by the spirits ofthose who used to reside on the
boat.
The small community of Van Pughis another place swallowed up
(24:10):
by the waters of Lake Lanier.
The community church bell canstill be heard ringing
underwater, as if reminding lakevisitors that it was once a
place of worship that sat on dryland and should still be there.
There seem to be as many storiesof lake hauntings as there are
(24:32):
actual tragic deaths.
Tonight, let's take a look atsome of the more persistent
tales, tales that have survivedlargely intact for generations.
The Lady of the Lake isprobably Lake Lanier's most
(24:56):
well-known ghost story.
On the evening of April 16,1958, delia Mae Parker and Susie
Roberts were out joyriding,heading for the Three Gables, a
sort of dance hall roadhouse inDawsonville, georgia.
Delia had borrowed a blue dressjust for the occasion.
(25:17):
The women had just gassed uptheir car and, feeling reckless,
they had sped away from the gasstation without paying,
laughing and having a good time.
Susie, who was driving a littletoo fast across a bridge that
(25:37):
spanned one section of the lake,lost control of the car,
crossed the center line andcrashed through the rail at the
edge of the bridge.
Her 1954 Ford sedan plungedinto the icy water below.
Divers were called to the scenewhen the women were reported
missing because of skid marksthat clearly indicated what had
(25:58):
happened on the bridge.
They searched for a vehicle andfor the women's bodies, but
found nothing.
The two women's families had noidea what had become of them.
More than a year later, a bodyfloated up from the depths of
Lake Lanier and was discoveredby a fisherman Badly decomposed.
(26:22):
The body could have only beenidentified using dental records,
but alas, there were no teethto be examined.
The body was, however, missingtwo toes and both hands.
However missing two toes andboth hands, the unidentified
body was buried in Alta VistaCemetery in Gainesville with no
(26:43):
identifying grave marker.
Since the women went missing,locals began claiming that they
had seen a woman pacing thebridge and the highway as if she
had lost something and waslooking for it.
She wore a blue dress and shehad no hands.
32 years later, constructionworkers doing some underwater
(27:10):
extensions on that same bridgefound a blue 1950s Ford sedan
resting at the bottom of LakeLanier under 90 feet of water.
Inside the rusted, wrecked Fordsedan were human bones, later
determined to be those of SusieRoberts.
(27:32):
She too, was buried in AltaVista Cemetery.
The body that had been buriedin an unmarked grave 32 years
earlier was determined to havebeen that of Delia Mae Parker.
Her family had a headstone madefor her grave, and today both
(27:52):
women are together again.
Their night of carefree funended in tragedy in the dark,
cold depths of an unforgivingbody of water.
Another legend of the lakelives on, having survived
generations of telling andretelling by locals and visitors
(28:12):
alike.
Late-night boaters andfishermen tell of a shadowy
figure on a raft in the waterwith a single lantern hanging
from a pole on the raft.
The figure and most assume itis a man slowly and quietly
pushes his raft through thewater using a pole and pushing
(28:34):
along the lake bottom.
This last seems quiteimpossible, as the locations of
the sightings have been in noless than 50 feet of water.
Still the figure drifts quietlyby.
In one particularly harrowingincident, two fishermen reported
being on the water at about 1am, their boat tied underneath a
(28:57):
bridge.
Two fishermen reported being onthe water at about 1 am, their
boat tied underneath a bridge.
This is a common practice forfishermen.
These two men both said theysaw the man on the raft pushing
quietly along in the water, hislantern swaying slightly with
each push.
Surprisingly, the man on theraft began shouting to the
(29:18):
fishermen urgently, trying toget their attention.
He then dove into the water andbegan swimming toward them,
startled the two men, untiedtheir boat and motored toward
shore.
Sure the men meant them harmwhen they turned back to look at
him, he and the raft were gone,though the water still rippled
(29:41):
with his small wake.
Swimmers have said often that assoon as they entered the waters
of Lake Lanier they feltdrained of all energy, even
exhausted, and they found itdifficult to swim and to breathe
.
Thoughts of despair andhopelessness take over and they
(30:03):
struggle to think of reasons toswim to the surface or to the
shore.
Some have even reported adesire to stay underwater and to
drift deeper into the colddepths, and to drift deeper into
the cold depths.
Still.
Others have reported seeingfaces under the water, some
drifting peacefully, someclearly distraught and still
(30:27):
others appearing furious.
Others say they've heard voicesunder the water and still
others are sure that they haveheard church bells ringing.
Are all of these tales, passeddown through generations by
people of all backgrounds, theproduct of mass hysteria?
Are these legends shared simplybecause we love the mystery of
(30:55):
it all?
Or can the more than 700 deathson this massive body of water
be attributed to high boattraffic, or reckless behavior,
or excessive alcohol consumptionor just inexperience?
No matter the reasons, real orimagined danger surely lurks in
the waters of Lake Lanier.
(31:15):
Perhaps tighter boating andalcohol consumption laws will
put an end to the ever-risingdeath toll.
We can certainly hope so, can'twe?
Until then, I strongly advisethat you proceed with caution.
Not everything that is shinyand beautiful is as it seems,
(31:38):
and water can cover many things,but not its own history.
Join me next time as we travelto 19th century New Orleans'
French Quarter and the hauntedLaLaurie Mansion, in a city
known for its dark associationwith the occult, where the veil
(32:02):
between the living and the deadis purported to be its thinnest.
Why, in the city famous for itsfellowship with the occult, has
this elegant mansion been namedthe most terrifying?
I'm Carole Townsend, veterannewspaper journalist and
(32:27):
six-time award-winning author.
You can find me on social mediaand check out my website at
caroltownsendcom and check outmy website at caroletownsend.
com.
As always, thanks for listeningand if you're enjoying these
tales of Southern history andlore, I hope you'll tell your
friends.
Subscribe to this podcast onSpotify, apple Play, iheart and
(32:59):
anywhere you listen.
My team and I benefited fromthe following research and
writings to bring this tale toyou the Haunting of Lake Lanier,
oxfordamericanorg, dated June1st 2021.
Lakelanierislandscom 2021 LakeLanier Islandscom.
(33:23):
Us Army Corps of Engineers,mobile District.
Lake Sydney, lanier and theeerie story under Lake Lanier in
USA Today, may 10th 2024.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.