4. A Scenic Tourist Attraction’s Dark Past
Lake Sidney Lanier is a 38,000-acre artificial lake about forty five miles north of Atlanta, GA. It was filled when the Chattahoochee River was dammed in the 1950s. The lake was originally created by the US government to ease navigation, help with flood control, and provide hydroelectricity. The lake’s reservoir is a key water source for Atlanta’s growing population, and supplies not just Georgia residents, but those of Alabama and Florida as well. Its shoreline of almost 700 miles has made the lake a scenic spot that attracts about ten million tourists per year. Not many visitors know that Lake Lanier’s waters cover a tragic story. The lake lies atop what had once been a thriving black community, whose members were violently forced out of their homes in the early 1900s.
Oscarville, in Forsyth County, GA, was a thriving black community of about 1100 souls. In 1912, it included farmers who owned or rented their land, craftsmen, and other laborers. The local school was attended by more than 300 black children. Churches collected tithes, organized picnics, and overall, Oscarville was a modestly prosperous community. Unfortunately, even modest black prosperity ticked off many of Forsyth County’s whites. One such wrote the local newspaper to decry the fact that so many black kids attended school, while many white children did not. He feared that black children who attended school might become eligible to vote, while the children of white farmers who did not might become ineligible to vote. Such resentments, as seen below, exploded into violence the ended with the ethnic cleansing of Oscarville.