Abstract:

The mysterious Lake Charlotte Nature Preserve in Atlanta is no longer a lake, nor a nature preserve, but a private two hundred–acre wilderness next to a landfill. This former public lake has a long and complicated history, including a suburban fishing club, a tragic debutante, botched plans for an inner-city campground, dumped bodies, and a landfill thwarted by organized Black neighbors. How did this once prized destination end up preserved in a state of arrested development? In 2019, as the landfills are capped and this corner of Atlanta begins to gentrify, the city considers whether to preserve Lake Charlotte again. In this personal essay, the author creeps through the fence to see what's left of the lake, the dam, and the Paleolithic quarry sites. Can Atlanta overcome a development pattern that paired neighborhoods for "Negro expansion" with industrial contamination? Fenced off for forty years, can nature—and the community—repair itself?

摘要：

亚特兰大神秘的夏洛特湖自然保护区不再是湖泊，也不再是自然保护区，而是位于垃圾填埋场旁边的占地 200 英亩的私人荒野。这个曾经的公共湖泊有着悠久而复杂的历史，包括一个郊区钓鱼俱乐部、一个悲惨的首次亮相、一个拙劣的市中心露营地计划、倾倒尸体和一个被有组织的黑人邻居阻挠的垃圾填埋场。这个曾经备受珍视的目的地是如何在开发停滞的状态下保存下来的？2019 年，随着垃圾填埋场的封顶和亚特兰大的这个角落开始高档化，该市考虑是否再次保护夏洛特湖。在这篇个人文章中，作者爬过栅栏，看看剩下的湖、大坝和旧石器时代的采石场遗址。亚特兰大能否克服将社区配对以实现“