Oscarville BTS Below the Surface

"Oscarville: Below the Surface" uses the area's factual past, local legends to infuse a fictional story-line. -Tom Ligon Before the lake, there stood several communities, Oscarville was one of them. Black Farmers find themselves defending Oscarville and must lead their families out of the county to safety when a local White mob seeks revenge to find the villain who has been targeting locals in the community. The Oscarville community finds out why. Many remember Oscarville simply as a rural area that was later taken up as land to make room for Lake Lanier. But many years before that time, it was a bustling Black community. Just before 1912, there were nearly 1,100 Black residents in Forsyth County - with 58 of those residents being landowners mostly in Oscarville. According to the Digital Library of Georgia, 109 Black residents paid the farm tax, meaning they rented or owned farms. Other Black residents worked in Cumming as craftsmen or other laborers. Almost suddenly, Oscarville was abandoned, the churches and pillars of their community burnt to the ground. The residents who used to live there were forced to start over, securing jobs and opening businesses where they could in Gainesville.