DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the farms and communities that once stood where Camp Swift now does. Now, 1940 is a year worth pausing on. The United States hadn't entered the war yet — but the government was watching the horizon, and what it saw made it start picking out land.
This stretch of Bastrop County caught its eye, and just like that, the federal government decided this was where Camp Swift would go — a training and shipment facility. Thirty days. That's what landowners got.
Thirty days to clear out, take what they could move, and go. And when people talk about displacement, they sometimes make it sound like an inconvenience. But what got swallowed up here wasn't just farmland.
Some of these communities traced their roots back to 19th-century settlement. Gone in a month. The outlying areas of Sayersville, Elgin, McDade, Oak Hill, and Waysie all felt it.
And then there were the smaller rural settlements tucked within what became the camp itself — Duck Pond, Piney, Spring Branch, and Dogwood. Most of the people pushed out were farmers. Some worked other trades.
But all of them left. Now here's one of those lives worth lingering on. Antoine Aussiloux — born in France — had come to this area and started operating a local winery in the late 19th century.
It prospered. For a while, things were good. Then refrigerated railroad cars started delivering beer in the 1890s, and the market shifted.
Then came the anti-saloon leagues. Then came Prohibition. Legalized alcohol production was eliminated, and that was that for Aussiloux's winery.
A long way to travel just to watch the law and the railroad conspire against you. Then there was Frank Dennison, who built facilities for lignite mining nearby — part of the Sayers Mine. He also built a village to house the miners, and that village was associated with a burial ground known as the Mexican Cemetery.
Other graveyards within what is now Camp Swift included Chandler Cemetery, New Hope Cemetery, and a single gravesite. The dead don't get thirty days' notice. After World War II, the War Assets Administration began selling some of the land back.
But many of the displaced residents couldn't repurchase their former properties. That door, for most of them, didn't reopen. The government eventually held onto about eleven thousand five hundred acres of what had been roughly twenty-five thousand acres of Camp Swift, keeping it for use by the National Guard.
Today, people still live in this area. And if you make it inside Camp Swift, the visible reminders are there — quietly chronicling what was displaced and what was lost when wartime activities remade this corner of Texas. The land remembers, even when the paperwork moves on.
What the marker says
As the United States prepared for the possibility of war in 1940, the government selected this area for establishment of what would be Camp Swift, a training and shipment facility. The federal government quickly acquired property, giving landowners 30 days to leave and move structures. The displacement resulted not only in the loss of farms but also early rural communities, some dating to 19th-century settlement. Outlying areas of larger communities, including Sayersville, Elgin, McDade, Oak Hill and Waysie, were affected, as were dispersed rural settlements within the camp area, including Duck Pond, Piney, Spring Branch and Dogwood. Most of the displaced residents were farmers, although some worked in other occupations. Antoine Aussiloux, born in France, began operating a local winery in the late 19th century that prospered until refrigerated railroad cars began to deliver beer in the 1890s and later anti-saloon leagues and prohibition eliminated legalized alcohol production. Another area resident, Frank Dennison, constructed nearby facilities for lignite mining, part of the Sayers Mine. He built a village to house miners, and it was associated with a graveyard known as the Mexican Cemetery. Other area burial grounds located within present Camp Swift included Chandler Cemetery, New Hope Cemetery and a single gravesite. After World War II, the War Assets Administration began to sell some of the land, but many residents were unable to repurchase their former properties. The government eventually retained about 11,500 acres of the approximately 25,000-acre Camp Swift for use by the National Guard. Today, many residents continue to live in this area, and visible reminders throughout Camp Swift chronicle the history of the settlements displaced by wartime activities. (2007)