Buford Dam. Photo via USACE.
By Faith Meader
Historian, New South Associates
STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga | New South Associates, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, seeks to conduct oral history interviews with persons knowledgeable about the history of Lake Sidney Lanier and will be preparing an informational website on the history of Lake Sidney Lanier.
The Lake Sidney Lanier reservoir, covering about 38,000 acres of five counties in north Georgia, was created by the construction of Buford Dam on the Chattahoochee River. Built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1950 to 1957, the dam and reservoir provided flood control, improved navigation, hydroelectric power, and water supply for Atlanta. In the years after its formation, Lake Lanier attracted industrial and residential growth in the region, and recreational use has flourished as one of its primary resources.
Lake Lanier has become familiar to north Georgians for its range of roles and purposes, but it was once a very different landscape. Over a period of three years, water gradually filled the Chattahoochee valley and its connected creeks and tributaries to form the lake. The story of that transformation, told by those who lived through it, is at the heart of the oral history project.
New South Associates of Stone Mountain, is a nationally recognized cultural resource management firm seeking to interview people on the creating of Lake Lanier. The focus of this project is to identify and record the stories of the families who lived in the area and the people who helped build the lake.
The construction of Buford Dam has been well-documented through photographs and land records, but oral histories help to fill in the gaps and complete a fuller picture of the past by offering us a glimpse into the experiences of those who lived through it. Capturing important first-person narratives that are decreasing as time passes is key to understanding how Lake Lanier’s construction impacted lives and communities in the 1950s.
This oral history project hopes to tell the story of Lake Lanier from a variety of perspectives. These interview narrators may include those whose land became part of the lake’s footprint; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers personnel involved in design or land surveys; workers on the dam construction; community members who watched the lake fill; and, the first generation of Lake Lanier users. Interviews will be filmed and digitally recorded for transcription.
In addition to old photographs, researchers on this project encourage the sharing of letters, scrapbooks, diary entries, and other personal memorabilia that bring back memories. With permission, some of these items may be scanned to supplement the interview narratives.
Follow and share the “Lake Sidney Lanier Oral History Project” Facebook page for updates: https://www.facebook.com/lake.sidney.lanier.history.project. For general questions about the project, or for consideration as an interviewee in the Oral History Project, contact me at 770-498-4155 x 195 or contact me at fmeader@newsouthassoc.com.
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