During World War II, labor shortages in the United States led to the use of prisoners of war for agricultural work. In Jefferson County, the program was supervised by county extension agent J.M. Combs through the Texas Agricultural Extension Service at Texas A&M University. He assessed farm labor needs and local labor supply and coordinated with the base prisoner of war camp in Huntsville, one of the largest in Texas, which opened early in 1943. Its first prisoners were members of Rommel's Afrika Korps captured in North Africa, and other German prisoners also came from the European Theater of Operations. Because some areas such as China were too far from the base camp for daily round trips, temporary branch camps were established. The China branch camp opened on this site in September 1944 on property leased by the U.S. government from the Stanolind Oil & Gas Company. Local farmers and others collected prisoners each morning for day labor and returned them each night. German soldiers performed general farm work for twenty-five cents per hour, harvested rice for three dollars a day, and also worked as loggers. In January 1945 the China camp held 148 prisoners, and at its peak in August 1945 it housed 403. The camp operated for only 15 months, closing in December 1945, when its 350 prisoners returned to Huntsville and eventually to Germany. At the dawn of the 21st century, the only remnant of the camp was the water well.