The lake was named after Sidney Clopton Lanier, a 19th century poet and Georgia native who proclaimed his love for this area in his poem, "Song of the Chattahoochee." Music and nature were as much an inspiration to him as the works of famous Romantic poets. In 1972, Lanier was honored for his literary contributions by the U.S. Postal Service with a commemorative eight cent stamp.
The proposal to build the lake came around the time of World War II after citizens expressed a growing concern about transportation, power production, water supply and the effects of flooding. The potential of the Chattahoochee River as a valuable natural resource was obvious.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was authorized by Congress in 1946 to design and build a series of dams and lakes along the Chattahoochee River with the primary goal of providing water, electric power and flood control for the area. The Chattahoochee River runs southward along the Alabama and Georgia state line into Florida and empties into the Gulf of Mexico. Locks, dams and lakes would allow easy navigation and access for boats travelling along the river.
By 1950, preparations were underway as 58,000 acres of land were acquired for the project. Construction on the four dams began in 1953. Buford Dam was built farthest upstream near the origin of the Chattahoochee River. It stands 192 feet high and stretches 2,360 feet long and is situated next to the Powerhouse. This concrete building houses the machinery responsible for the production of electricity and the regulation of water flow released from the lake.
To keep expenses down, Buford Dam, along with the three smaller adjacent dams called saddle dikes, were built of raw earth as opposed to concrete. The saddle dikes system is 6,600 feet in length.
In order to create Lanier's 540 miles of shoreline, grave sites were relocated and some 14,000 acres of forests, buildings and other structures had to be removed. Some structures, however, were left standing, and can still be found today on the bottom of the lake.
Building Lake Lanier and Buford Dam cost an approximate $45 million, which excludes the cost of constructing the lake's parks and recreation areas. The lake, however, serves many functions. In addition to flood control, power production, water supply and navigation, Lake Lanier provides fish and wildlife management as well as recreation.
Today, recreation at Lake Lanier generates approximately $2 billion annually. There are 60 recreational areas, including parks and campgrounds, and seven commercial marinas that attract over 16 million visitors each year. Lake Lanier Islands, a 1,200 acre park, offers a water park, two championship golf courses, beach concerts, arts and crafts festivals and other special events.
Boating and fishing are also popular activities on Lake Lanier. Spotted bass, stripped bass, catfish and yellow perch are just a few of the fish that inhabit the lake.
Maintenance and day to day operations of Lake Lanier require a tremendous amount of effort which is fulfilled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other local, state and federal agencies. Some of the responsibilities include park operation, enforcement of regulations, public education, lakeshore management, water quality, fish and wildlife management and commercial operations.
In 1993, the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) announced Lake Lanier as the site for the 1996 Olympic rowing and canoe/kayak sprint competitions. Nearly 1,100 athletes and 20,000 spectators will visit the area, and it is estimated that this event will have a $37 million impact over the next seven years for Hall County and Lake Lanier.
ACOG has invested $12 million in the Lake Lanier rowing venue which has been compared to a similar course in Lucerne, Switzerland. Lake Lanier has already hosted the Sprint Challenge as well as the U.S. National Rowing Championship, and it will be used as a training site for the German, Swedish, Hungarian, Finnish, Irish and U.S. Naval Academy teams.
In an effort to preserve Lake Lanier's natural environment, the venue features removable seating, which can accommodate 18,500 spectators. Permanent facilities, which include two large boathouses, a storage house, a finish tower and cabling system will remain at the lake after the Olympics are completed. Lake Lanier's new rowing venue and the spirit of the Olympics has inspired several high schools and universities to develop their own rowing programs.
Located approximately 50 miles north of Atlanta, the community of Gainesville, Hall County is the business, artistic
and cultural, shopping and academic center for Northeast Georgia, and a worldwide sports and recreation hub. In
addition to the rowing, sprint canoe/kayak events of the 1996 Olympics, Gainesville, Hall County is also home to the
1996 Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Yale Regatta, the 1996 US Rowing Olympic Team Trials, the Hemispheric Olympic Trials
for canoe/kayak, the Sarazen World Open Golf Championship and Road Atlanta.
| An estimated 5.3 million visted Centennial Olympic Park between opening day - 13 July - and closing day - 4 August, making the park the most single most visited Olympic site during the Games. |