In August 1938, Deutschhorst Country Club, a summer retreat created by the German American Bund, a Pro-Nazi organization moved to the area after purchasing a 40 acre ranch outside of the town. The group used the area as a summer camp where family functions and activities were pursued in addition to political rallies. As World War II approached, the club sought to distance itself several times from the Nazi cause in local newspapers and was reported as "almost abandoned" from a lack of use by 1940. FBI agents were reported to have been watching the club grounds and visitors were reported to have covered their license plates in order to avoid being identified as a Bund member. In September, 1939 - shortly after the start of World War II, leader of German American Bund - Fritz Julius Kuhn, gave a speech to gathered members of the German American Bund and associated groups such as the World War I German Veteran league known as the Kyffhauser Bund, declaring that with the start of the war Adolf Hitler would "lick the world" in the new conflict. The camp would eventually be closed after the dissolution of the German American Bund on December 8th, 1941 - after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.