The mysterious deaths of Lake Lanier have always raised eyebrows leaving the locals and even the concerned authorities shocked in several instances. The dark history of these increasing numbers of deaths has earned the lake its reputation of being one of the deadliest lakes in the United States.
With the latest incident of a 24-year-old boy drowning to death on Saturday, the focus has been brought back to the lake’s grim history. But sadly, for those familiar with Lake Lanier, these deaths are not surprising, as the lake has witnessed hundreds of fatalities over the years.
Named after Sidney Lanier, a poet and Confederate soldier during the Civil War, the lake is situated less than 50 miles from Georgia's Stone Mountain. The man-made reservoir was constructed in the year 1956 by the US Army Corps of Engineers and is spread over a massive 38,000 acres.
The lake also draws around 10 million visitors annually, contributing approximately $5 billion to North Georgia's economy. However, despite many rosy economic figures, the rising death toll seems to be a worry.
This dark history has earned Lake Lanier a reputation as a haunted locale, depicted as such in the popular FX series "Atlanta." However, many believe that the lake’s history is intertwined with racial violence and the obliteration of Black communities.
From the horrific events of 1912, when a white woman's assault led to the lynching of a Black man named Rob Edwards and the ejection of all Black residents to the flooding of Oscarville in the 1950s, the lake holds a chilling connection to the legacy of anti-Black violence that persists to this day.
Recent reports of divers encountering eerie sensations in the lake, including the feeling of body parts underwater, have further fueled its mystique. Consequently, one of the lake's rescue teams has opted to deploy underwater robots rather than divers for rescue operations, acknowledging the risks associated with exploring its mysterious depths.
However, Lake Lanier is just one of such haunted lakes in the United States. Similar stories can be found in other parts of the large country, from Alabama's Lake Martin to New York's Seneca Village, both of which were overtaken by development.