Lake Lanier (named after Confederate soldier Sidney Lanier) in Forsyth County, GA, is a popular recreational spot 42 miles north of Atlanta. Beneath is what used to be a town called Oscarville, a thriving, predominantly black community until 1912.
That year, two black teens were accused of rape and tried, convicted, and sentenced to death all in one day. After the boys were hung outside of town, a white mob terrorized, drove out, or killed all the black people in the surrounding area until the community of Oscarville disappeared entirely. The town’s population decreased from over a thousand black residents in 1912 to zero in 1920.