USA's 'most haunted lake' has claimed 700 lives since 1956

A lake in northern Georgia, US, has earned an eerie reputation which has created a supernatural frenzy in recent years.

Lake Lanier is an artificial lake built atop towns and cemeteries in an area with a problematic racial past.

Named after writer, poet, musician and Confederate army veteran Sidney Lanier, the lake is located 40 miles northeast of Atlanta between the Georgia towns of Cumming, Gainesville, and Buford.

It was created in the 1950s as part of the River and Harbors Act, which aimed to improve and reinforce waterways across the United States.

Despite being built to serve the Atlanta community in need of a water source and hydroelectric power, the lake's creation was marred by social injustice and a disturbing construction strategy which saw locals displaced to make room for the body of water.

In the five years that took to complete its construction, Lake Lanier caused families and business to be pushed out of what once was a primarily black area, as well as about 20 graveyards to be relocated. This resulted in 'ghost towns' with abandoned streets and houses as well as tombstones sitting intact at the bottom of the lake.

If you've ever watched a horror movie or read a gothic novel, you may know that building anything on top of someone's resting place is never a brilliant idea.

Of course, it didn't take long for urban legends about the haunted nature of the lake to start circulating, with someone going as far as petitioning to close the lake to prevent tragic occurrences.

NPS.gov.

The stories surrounding the lake hint at multiple supernatural incidents, but also try to make sense of the several accidents that have cemented Lake Lanier as one of the most spine-chilling locations in the US.

In the seven decades since its construction in the mid-1950s, the lake has claimed the lives of 700 people.

Supernatural legends aside, the reason why the lake is considered dangerous is simply that it was not built for recreational purposes.

Now the water is receding, the status of the lake floor, made up of debris and constructions in its deepest parts, means that accidents are very likely as boats, cars and bodies get closer and closer to the surface.

But there's more. The cluttered lake floor also means that attempts to rescue the missing bodies are much more difficult compared to what would happen in a natural lake.

If you are indeed looking for a thrill, however, there is one legend about a ghost known as The Lady of the Lake haunting Lake Lanier. Locals claim to have seen the figure of a woman in a blue dress pacing around the area, with some thinking it could be one of the two women whose remains were found in the lake after a car crash in 1958.