During the 1898 American Capture of Guam, Piti was the location of the formal Spanish surrender. The following year, the Americans established a Navy Yard at Piti, followed by a USDA agricultural experiment station in 1909. The Piti Navy Yard was one of the primary targets of Japanese bombing during the 1941 Japanese invasion, driving many residents to flee north on the road to Hagåtña. During the Japanese occupation of Guam, CHamorus were forced to expand Piti's rice fields to help feed the occupying troops. They were also forced to haul coastal defense guns into the Piti hillside, though they were not operational by the time of the American liberation in 1944. The U.S. military substantially reconstructed and altered the shoreline of Apra Harbor as Guam became a major base for the remainder of the Pacific War. In 1948, the U.S. government declared an eminent domain taking of parts of Piti, as well as Sumay and Agat, for little or no compensation, moving the local population from the harbor shoreline.