Around 1944-1945, a prisoner-of-war camp in Williamston stood along East Main Street near the Roanoke River Bridge and housed German and Italian prisoners who were well thought of by the citizens of Martin County. During their stay, the Germans built a life-size nativity scene that was highly publicized and left to the town of Williamson as a gift after the war. In 1958, it was destroyed when the old Williamston City Hall burned.