Welcome to Lake Lanier! Georgia’s stunning and picturesque waters, gorgeous treelines, and pristine beaches offer you and your family endless opportunities for boating, swimming, and accidentally encountering underwater apparitions. Explore scenic trails, lakeside dining, and the entire town that the lake was built on top of - including Native American burial grounds and spots where horrific, racially-charged crimes occurred. While playing in the water or having a relaxing boat day, don’t forget that Lake Lanier is one of the deadliest lakes in the country - where bodies disappear, swimmers feel themselves getting pulled down, and visitors report seeing and feeling phantom limbs floating in the water. Book your lake day soon!
For pictures and more information, please follow us on Instagram & Threads @thespectralpod. If you want to send us a story or recommendation, email us: spectralpod@gmail.com.
Please rate and review on your favorite listening platform. The ghosts and I will be eternally grateful. We hope you keep listening! Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all other platforms.
Sources
Dodd, Sophia. “Forsyth 1912: A Timeline of the Forced Exile of Black Residents From Forsyth County.” Atlanta History Center, 13 Mar. 2023, https://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/blog/forsyth-1912-a-timeline-of-the-forced-exile-of-black-residents-from-forsyth-county/.
Givens, La’Tasha, Richards, Makayla, and Schneider-Bray, Daris. “Relative of Oscarville resident shares history behind the city underneath Lake Lanier.” 11 Alive, 12 July 2022, https://www.11alive.com/article/news/community/voices-for-equality/oscarville-lanier-lake-black-town-riot-mae-crow-chattahoochee-beulah-rucker/85-8647e2be-a07b-
Gross, Terry. “The ‘Racial Cleansing’ That Drove 1,100 Black Residents Out of Forsyth County, Ga.” NPR, 15 Sept. 2016, https://www.npr.org/2016/09/15/494063372/the-racial-cleansing-that-drove-1-100-black-residents-out-of-forsyth-county-ga.
Harvey, Austin. “Inside The 700 Deaths At Georgia’s Lake Lanier, From Tragic Drownings To Freak Electrocutions.” All That’s Interesting, 04 June 2024, https://allthatsinteresting.com/lake-lanier-deaths#:~:text=For%20700%20people%20to%20have,two%20deaths%20at%20Lake%20Lanier.
Jones, Spencer. “Look but don’t swim: These are the 5 most dangerous lakes.” Travel Noire, 10 Aug. 2023, https://travelnoire.com/dangerous-lakes.
Karimi, Faith. “A Georgia lake’s dark and deadly history has some people seeing ghosts.” CNN, 31 Oct. 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/31/us/lake-lanier-urban-legends-trnd/index.html.
“Lake Lanier.” Discover Lake Lanier, Accessed 10 Sept. 2024, https://www.discoverlakelanier.com/.
“Lake Sidney Lanier.” Gwinnett County, Accessed 10 Sept. 2024, https://www.gwinnettcounty.com/aboutgwinnett/fastfacts/lakelanier.
Little, Becky. “In 1912, This Georgia County Drove Out Every Black Resident.” History, 20 Aug. 2019, https://www.history.com/news/georgia-racial-expulsion-stacey-abrams.
Netflix, Files of the Unexplained Episode: “Lake Lanier” 2024.
“Trail of Tears.” National Park Service, Accessed 10 Sept. 2024, https://www.nps.gov/trte/planyourvisit/upload/Georgia-Trail-of-Tears-brochure-508.pdf.
Williamson, Kelsey. “History Center recounts tales about ghosts of Gainesville.” The Gainesville Times, 27 Oct. 2014, https://www.gainesvilletimes.com/life/life-top-stories/history-center-recounts-tales-about-ghosts-of-gainesville/.