Lake Lanier is a popular weekend destination known for fishing, boating, and so much more, including an eerie reputation that has deemed it as haunted in Georgia.

But one lesser-known fact is the lake sits on top of the Black-town, Oscarville.

Oscarville was burnt down in 1912 and more than a thousand residents were forced to flee following the allegations of rape.

Rob Edwards was arrested in September 1912 along with Earnest Knox and Oscar Daniel, both teenagers, all accused of raping and murdering a young white woman named Mae Crow.

Edwards was dragged out of jail, beaten with a crowbar, and then lynched from a telephone pole.

Daniel and Knox went to trial and were found guilty on the same day. The boys were sentenced to death by hanging.

After the trials and executions, white men, known as Night Riders, forced Black families out of their homes by bringing their land, churches, and schools.

Once Black families fled, Lake Lanier was built on top of what was burned down.

loc:city:benson