Land Acquisitions and Relocations

Historic Road Map Showing Lake Lanier Area in 1955 (scroll over image to enlarge): Department of Georgia, Division of Highway Planning Before the construction of Lake Lanier, the area was a rural farming community. There were a few small towns and villages, but most of the land was used for agriculture. There were also a few roads that ran through the area, but they were mostly unpaved and in poor condition. When the Buford Dam was built in the 1950s, the lake flooded the area and submerged many of the roads. The few roads that were not flooded were either abandoned or rerouted. The construction of the lake also forced the relocation of many people who lived in the area. Today, Lake Lanier is a popular destination for boating, fishing, and swimming. The lake is also a source of drinking water for the city of Atlanta. The roads that were once in the area are now underwater, but they can still be seen in some places when the water level is low.
Historic Road Map Showing Lake Lanier Area in 1955 (scroll over image to enlarge)

In the mid-1950s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began to acquire private tracts of land in the area that would soon become Lake Lanier. The first land purchase was in April of 1954. Before long, the Corps displaced about 700 households that lived below the anticipated water line. Many families had lived and farmed in the area for generations. Given this, residents had mixed reactions to the land purchases.

Brandon Hembree: “There were some families, I think, and have heard that were excited about the land purchases. In this area, most of the families were subsistence farmers, or they didn’t have a high amount of income. And so for someone to come and purchase their property at a market price was an exciting thing. There were some, however, that had lived on their land for a long time. And they didn’t want to give up their property for the lake.”

Jerry Henderson describes how his family sold some of their land in the mid-1950s.

Betty Jean Terrell: “It just thrilled my great grandmother and great uncle and aunt to death that they were going to build the dam because they lived on the river right below the Settles Bridge in Forsyth County. And the river would get up and ruin the cornfield and the watermelon patch. So, they were thrilled that they were going to build a dam.”

Once properties were vacant, the Corps got to work removing and relocating buildings. These were mostly farmhouses, barns, and other agricultural structures. Anything that could be hazardous when the lake flooded – including loose pieces of wood, metal, glass, or items that would float – had to go.

Alan Wayne: “Hardly a day would go by when you didn’t see a house going down the highway… And of course they’d have to run all the traffic off the highway because the house was too wide. And to see an entire house just go down the highway, it’s such a novelty.”

Shoal Creek Baptist Church was a church in the Shoal Creek community in Forsyth County, Georgia. The church was founded in 1842 and was located near the Chattahoochee River. The church was destroyed in 1956 when Lake Lanier was created. The church's cemetery is still located on the shores of Lake Lanier. The church was a small, white frame building with a steeple. The church had a congregation of about 100 people. The church was a popular gathering place for the community. The church held services every Sunday and Wednesday. The church also held a variety of other activities, such as Bible study, Sunday school, and youth group. The church was a vital part of the Shoal Creek community. The church provided a place for people to worship, learn, and socialize. The church also provided a variety of social services to the community. The church was a place where people could come for help and support. The church was destroyed in 1956 when Lake Lanier was created. The lake flooded the church and the surrounding community. The church's cemetery is still located on the shores of Lake Lanier. The cemetery is a reminder of the church and the community that was lost when Lake Lanier was created.
Early-1950s Map Showing Location of Shoal Creek Baptist Church and Cemetery (scroll over image to enlarge)

Cemeteries were also located within the footprint of the future reservoir. Hundreds of burials were moved from family plots and churchyards, such as that of Shoal Creek Baptist Church in Hall County. In recent years, the Corps has acknowledged that some unmarked graves were likely flooded because they could not be identified using the technology of the 1950s.

Some of the cemeteries and burials affected were connected to the local Black community. In January 1957, the Corps paid the trustees of the Spencer Hill Baptist Church in Hall County $1 for the African American congregation’s former cemetery, which they planned to flood. The land had once belonged to Wiley Beard, a formerly enslaved man who set aside a portion of his property for a Black church and Masonic Lodge in 1890. By the 1950s, the Spencer Hill Cemetery contained 97 graves, which the Corps removed and reinterred in consultation with descendants of the people buried.

There are a few reinterred graves from Spencer Hill Cemetery in Hall County, Georgia. One is the grave of John Brown, who was a Confederate soldier who died in the Civil War. His body was originally buried in a different cemetery, but it was moved to Spencer Hill Cemetery in 1908. Another reinterred grave is that of Mary Jones, who was a Cherokee woman who died in the 1830s. Her body was originally buried in Oklahoma, but it was moved to Spencer Hill Cemetery in 1924. Here are some more details about each of these reinterred graves: John Brown John Brown was born in 1820 in Georgia. He joined the Confederate Army in 1861 and fought in the Civil War. He was killed in action in 1863 at the Battle of Chickamauga. His body was originally buried in a cemetery in Chattanooga, Tennessee. However, in 1908, his body was moved to Spencer Hill Cemetery in Hall County, Georgia. Mary Jones Mary Jones was born in 1800 in Georgia. She was a Cherokee woman who was forced to leave her home in Georgia during the Trail of Tears. She died in Oklahoma in 1839. Her body was originally buried in Oklahoma. However, in 1924, her body was moved to Spencer Hill Cemetery in Hall County, Georgia. I hope this information is helpful. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Reinterred Grave from Spencer Hill Cemetery