A Georgia man fishing in Lake Lanier drowned Wednesday, marking the latest in a series of tragedies at the famous lake that is rumored to be haunted. There was 13 deaths at Lake Lanier in 2023, compared to 3 in Allatoona – the lake with the second highest number of deaths in the state.
The victim, identified as 73-year-old Matthew Mayo of Gainesville, was fishing in a bass boat with his wife at the time of the incident. “When the man attempted to sit on the seat, it came loose from the floor and caused him to fall into the water,” according to a statement from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Mayo did not reappear. Game Wardens then located his body in two meters of water and Hall County Fire recovered the body.
All swimming areas in the lake are “swim at your own risk” as there are no lifeguards on duty. Outside of swimming areas, Lake Lanier is known for being one of the most dangerous lakes due to boat traffic and submerged debris, via your information page.
Around 12 million people still visit Lake Lanier annuallyalthough it also had the highest number of boating incidents, injuries and boating under the influence (BUI) incidents in 2023. There have been two drownings reported so far on Lake Lanier this year, a Georgia Department of Natural Resources representative confirmed. for TIME.
Lake Lanier is an artificial lake that was built on the historically black town of Oscarville. Although the community had a strong culture and economy, residents of Oscarville were also subject to intense racial violence after 19-year-old Mae Crow, a white woman, was found dead in the nearby woods in 1912. Four black men were held responsible for the crime. One of them, Robert “Big Rob” Edwards, was lynched shortly after his arrest. (Ernest Knox and Oscar Daniel, who were also blamed for Crow’s death, were later tried and hanged.) Mobs also came to town to drive out the black residents of Forsyth County.. Churches and businesses were destroyed, driving black residents to abandon their homes. More than 1,000 people were displaced, according to the information page.
Afterwards, Oscarville, as the black community knew it, no longer existed. The government purchased 56,000 acres of private land to create Lake Lanier, which was funded with the US$45 million Congress allocated to the project. Construction of Lake Lanier was completed in the 1950s and is currently property of the US Army Corps of Engineers.
There are several conspiracy theories about the lake being haunted due to its devastating racial history. Part of this is due to the high number of accidents that occurred because many of the structures that made up Oscarville – including cemeteries and school buildings – were not completely removed before the lake was filled.
In 1958, two girls, Delia May Parker Young and Susie Roberts, slipped off a bridge while crossing Lake Lanier and disappeared, according to the American Oxford. Residents claim to have seen one of the victims, Parker Young, haunting the lake. Known as the Lady of the Lake, visitors claim that she drags people to the bottom of the lake.
The lake is also near Forsyth County, which was part of the Cherokee Nation before the U.S. government forcibly expelled indigenous people from their homes and on a journey known as the Trail of Tears, according to the American Oxford.
Lake Lanier was also the subject of an episode of the Netflix investigative series Archives of the Inexplicable. O lake also won Best operated lake of the year in 1990, 1997 and 2002.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
