24"x30" digital painting on canvas.
 
The Georgian town that became a lake—Oscarville was formed during the Reconstruction era of the 1800s. It was a thriving Black community filled with farmers, carpenters, and landowners. Oscarville was a successful, self sufficient town that experienced rapid farming growth when the rest of the state was struggling. However, like many Black self reliant towns, Oscarville was violently burnt down and destroyed by racist white mobs. In 1912, 19yo white woman Mae Crow was found dead and presumably raped in the woods near Oscarville. After the destruction of Oscarville, Black landowners never retrieved what was stolen from them. Decades later in the 1950s, the Buford Dam was built and Lake Lanier was formed. Today, Lake Lanier is tourist attraction with an infamous reputation of being haunted due to the high numbers of drownings. Some say the drownings are due to what lies beneath.