Hamburg, Missouri

Hamburg was one of three towns, along with nearby Howell and Toonerville, that were evacuated and terminated in 1940–1941 when the area was taken over by the United States Department of the Army for the Weldon Spring Ordnance Works, which manufactured trinitrotoluene (TNT) and dinitrotoluene (DNT) and later processed uranium.

[1] Settled in the 1830s by German immigrants[2] John Nahm, William Koenig, George Mades, Daniel Schmidt, Jacob Schneider and Nickolas Roth, Hamburg was a railroad and river access point and town-center for farm families of the area.

The town met its demise in 1941 when the U.S. government purchased the entire area including two other nearby farm communities (Howell and Toonerville) for construction of an ordinance plant to support preparations for World War II.

A few people in the area had participated in the California gold rush and returned to Missouri with enough money to buy farms and start their families.

In the early years of his career during the 1930s, he performed in his father's band at the Riverview Park dance hall in Hamburg.