Historical Spotlight: Oscarville
Throughout history, Black American communities have been deprived of resources and targeted by senseless violence and discrimination. Communities like Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Linnentown in Athens, Georgia have been decimated by racist mobs and have had their histories erased. Join me as we shine a Historical Spotlight on Oscarville and the tragic story of the residents who were driven out to create Lake Lanier.
Oscarville was formed in the 1800’s during Reconstruction. It was a primarily Black community that relied on its agriculture for prosperity. Many of the Black residents had been freed from slavery after fighting in the Civil War and the town saw greater economic growth than other Black communities of the time. In 1911, there were about 1,100 residents and they either worked as craftsmen in nearby towns, as cottonhands, or raised poultry.
Racial tensions in the area grew after the 1906 Atlanta race riot. White farmers in the area blamed Black landowners for their economic stress and racial disputes cropped up frequently, resulting in shootouts, unwarranted attacks, or attempted lynchings. All of the tension reached a boiling point during the 1912 racial conflict in Forsyth County, Georgia.
On September 5, 1912, a white woman named Ellen Grice alleged that a Black man tried to assault her, and within days, Sheriff William Reid arrested five Black men for the crime. After hearing of the alleged attack, Grant Smith, a Black preacher at a local church, advocated for the men and insisted there wasn’t enough evidence to charge them all. He also suggested that Ellen was in a consensual relationship with one of the suspects and reported a crime only because she got caught, a common tactic used by white women, even nowadays. Unfortunately, he was met with outrage and violence from the white community and was whipped until police officers rescued him. No one was arrested or punished for the attack.
The tension increased even more when armed, paranoid white men started patrolling the streets based on rumors that Black people at a nearby church were planning to dynamite the town. Governor Joseph Mackey Brown feared a race riot breaking out and declared martial law to deploy 23 members of the National Guard to keep peace.
Just a few days later on September 13, 1912, a white woman named Mae Crow was found lying in a pool of blood with her throat slashed in some secluded woods about a mile from her house. It’s widely believed that none of the suspects arrested for her attack were actually involved. A small pocket mirror that belonged to a 16 year old Black boy named Ernest Knox was found at the scene, and after he was arrested, he was subjected to a mock lynching to force a coerced confession from him.
Word spread quickly about the attack and another white mob rapidly began to form. Rob Edwards, another Oscarville resident, was also arrested as a suspect, but was mysteriously left unguarded by Sheriff Reid. The mob ultimately broke into the jail where Edwards was being held and brutally hanged him in the town square.
Ernest was quickly convicted by an all-white jury and was sentenced to death by hanging, scheduled for October 25, 1912. At the time, public hangings were illegal and executions were only supposed to be viewed by the victim’s family, a minister, and law officers, but that didn’t stop the rabid population from destroying the protective fence around the gallows and forming a crowd of almost 8,000 people.
It’s important to note that almost none of the victims received fair practice of law. Almost all of them were guilty without proof or evidence that they did anything wrong. Those unspoken societal rules live on today and can be seen in any of the unjust killings of Black men.
After the hangings, groups of white men known as Night Riders threatened and intimidated Black residents. Unfortunately, most of the families either left the area, were killed, or had their properties stolen from them. The area boasted a population of more than 1,000 Black residents in 1910, but it’s estimated that 98% of them left due to the threats or were flat out murdered. Similarly to South Florida and Fisher Island, much of the property previously owned by Black residents fell into white hands without proper compensation or legal precedence.
Anti-Black racism spread and took strong root across Appalachian Georgia as numerous counties forced out Black residents, oftentimes in extremely violent ways. That history still speaks volumes today since many of those smaller towns in the mountains reek of racism and prejudice. If you’ve ever been to one of those enclaves, you know exactly what I’m talking about when I say you don’t want to accidentally break down there or be stuck after dark. You just can’t put anything past people who have gone their entire lives normalizing ethnic cleansing.
Land that had formerly been part of Oscarville was gradually sold to the government in the decades following. A growing demand for water in surrounding cities led to plans for construction of the Buford Dam. The project was approved in 1947 to regulate flooding and create Lake Lanier. The remains of Oscarville were flooded in 1950 during the lake’s construction, completely erasing the prosperous Black community that once stood proud.
There are several buildings, trees, abandoned structures, and even cemeteries still under Lake Lanier because nothing was demolished before the area was flooded. The lake claims a high number of souls each year, and if you’re from the area, you know you’re never supposed to get in that water.
Oscarville is yet another black community that was thriving when left alone, but was ultimately sabotaged by the dominant society. Reparations for the destruction, loss of life, and overall chaos caused is necessary for the surviving descendants of that area.
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Signed,
Jessica Marie
