As the United States prepared for the possibility of war in 1940, the federal government selected this area for Camp Swift, a training and shipment facility, and quickly acquired property, giving landowners 30 days to leave and move structures. The displacement brought the loss of farms and early rural communities, some dating to 19th-century settlement, affecting outlying areas of larger communities including Sayersville, Elgin, McDade, Oak Hill, and Wayside, as well as dispersed rural settlements within the camp area including Duck Pond, Piney, Spring Branch, and Dogwood. Most displaced residents were farmers, though some worked in other occupations. Antoine Aussiloux, born in France, operated a local winery beginning in the late 19th century, but it declined after refrigerated railroad cars began delivering beer in the 1890s and later anti-saloon leagues and prohibition ended legalized alcohol production. Frank Dennison constructed nearby lignite-mining facilities as part of the Sayers Mine and built a village for miners that was associated with a graveyard known as the Mexican Cemetery. Other burial grounds within present Camp Swift included Chandler Cemetery, New Hope Cemetery, and a single gravesite. After World War II, the War Assets Administration began selling some of the land, but many former residents could not repurchase their properties, and the government eventually retained about 11,500 acres of the approximately 25,000-acre Camp Swift for National Guard use.