THIS is Lake Lanier – a man-made reservoir built on an ancient burial ground where 700 people have died since the 1950s.
The spooky lake in northern Georgia has long had the reputation of being a hotspot for spirits who believers claim haunt visitors.
GettyLake Lanier is man-made and used to be Oscarville[/caption]
gainesvilletimesBefore Lanier was a lake, it was a place called Oscarville[/caption]
YouTube / 11AliveHundreds of families sold an unbelievable 56,000 acres and the lake was built[/caption]
US Army Corps of EngineersThe Army Corps flooded farmland bought from hundreds of families to create Lake Lanier[/caption]
US Army Corps of EngineersLake Lanier was built in the 1950s to provide electric power, water and flood protection[/caption]
The massive winding lake is a tourist hotspot for boating and water sports – but it has a dark underbelly.
The lake has seen more than 700 people die there – including 200 victims to swimming or in boating accidents since 1994.
Before the man-made lake was created, the area was reportedly very green and fertile land called Oscarville – the home to numerous families and businesses.
But Oscarville was also the place where racial violence was rampant and witnessed wrongful convictions, horrific lynchings and the forced expulsion of Black communities from the area.
Oscarville soon became Lake Lanier in the 1950s by flooding valley communities.
The US Army Corps of Engineers wanted to create a lake to provide Atlanta and surrounding areas with power, water and flood protection.
Hundreds of families sold an unbelievable 56,000 acres to the government which built a dam on the Chattahoochee River to form the later haunted lake, CNN reports.
Infrastructure like bridges were taken down and trees were moved, kicking out wildlife and the community – and 20 graveyards also had change location.
While the Corps claimed to move marked graves, it’s believed that some were left behind and therefore got submerged in the waters – fuelling rumours that ghosts haunt the area.
A spokesman for the Corps told CNN: “While the Corps made every effort at the time to locate unmarked burials the limited capabilities of the time make it probable that unanticipated finds of human remains are possible.
“Whether from the antebellum and Civil War periods or of Native American origin from pre-colonial and ancient times.”
Over the years, divers have reported seeing terrifying things below the waters, like a catfish the size of a car.
Videos have even been posted online of divers showing sunken houseboats and various piles of debris in the scary lake.
One diver Buck Buchannon even told local media that he had horrifically felt human body parts during various explorations.
He said: “You reach out into the dark and you feel an arm or a leg and it doesn’t move.”
One of Lanier’s most talked about ghost stories is about a car with two women in that went off a bridge in April 1958.
Believers claim the ghost of one of the women called ‘Lady of the Lake’ wanders the bridge at night in a blue dress.
Around an unbelievable 11 million visitors visit the site each year – roughly the same amount as Paris’ iconic Louvre.
While the lake clearly has had some tragic incidents’ take place, it’s important to note that there is no evidence to support claims that ghosts wander the area or haunting’s occur.
The Lady of the Lake
Many supernatural believers of Lanier say that one specific ghost lady haunts the area.
In 1958, two friends named Delia May Parker Young and Susie Roberts left a dance they had attended.
After filling up the car and not paying for it, the car went straight over the bridge while attempting to cross the lake and disappeared.
But the next year, a fisherman tragically discovered an unidentifiable body near one of the bridges.
And it wasn’t until 1990 that officials found a 1950s Ford sedan containing the remains of Susie Roberts.
This leads them to believe that the remains found in 1959 belonged to Delia.
Locals didn’t need forensic analysis to confirm this discovery however, Oxford American reports.
They had seen Delia themselves wearing a blue dress that she’d borrowed from Susie wandering in the bridge.
Now a scary tale tells that Delia’s been spotted with handless arms and takes unsuspecting lake-goers and drags them to the bottom.
Georgia Department of Natural ResourcesWardens from Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources on Lake Lanier in 1961[/caption]
GettyThe lake attracts millions of visitors each year[/caption]
GettyMany boats dock in the marina of the lake[/caption]
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