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[WGD706]

As water levels continue to drop, more of Atlanta's Lake Lanier's history is rising to the surface.The Old Gainesville racetrack grandstands are now being exposed near Laurel Park, the track has been under water since the formation of the lake in 1957!
The lake sits on thousands of acres of land that was once home to farming communities.

It is a lake with mystique -- a legend lurking deep beneath the surface.
"People have called and said, 'I've heard there's a huge town, they flooded a huge town'," said writer David Coughlin. "That's not really true."
Coughlin spent 15 years researching and writing about the history and mystery of Lake Lanier. Forty years ago, on the land now covered with water, 700 families lived in faming communities across 56,000 acres.
"You had barns and wells and chicken houses," Coughlin said. "It seemed every crossroad had a mom and pop store, sold dry goods or whatever."

But, Coughlin said, all of that was removed before the construction of Buford Dam and the creation of Lake Lanier.

So, as the lake drops, revealing treetops that haven't been seen in decades, Coughlin said, don't expect to see any rooftops.
"Any houses, any barns, anything that could float or cause a navigational hazard years later -- they had to remove it," Coughlin said.
Some history was left and submerged, like an old dirt race track.
The water has dropped low enough that you can now see the grandstands -- the crumbling cement where fans used to watch those races. The racetrack is located off from Laurel Park, in the northern section of Lake Lanier, off from Hwy 129 N.
It's also being called Hall County Race Track....."A large part of Hall County has been underwater since 1957 when the gates at Buford Dam were closed and water from the Chattahoochee River backed up, creating what is now Lake Lanier. And, much of what remains that was covered by water is now resurfacing because of the drought.
One of the most visible is the grandstand of the old Hall County Race Track. You can see it, protruding out of the water along a walking trail at Laurel park. Just across the lake at the bottom of Old Cleveland Highway, you can find the foundation of a filling station, complete with grease pit."
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