A train depot and several large farms used to make up what is now the area on Watson Boulevard near Robins Air Force Base.
Back then, it was the small community of Wellston.
The population spiked from 52 to nearly 10,000 after the military began building the base in 1941, and then the City of Warner Robins was officially charted later in 1943.
PHOTOS: A look back at the development of Warner Robins
The original train depot of Wellston now makes up the foundation of the sanctuary at First Presbyterian Church, where you'll often find retired Robins engineer Raymond Haggard.
"I came here in 1962 fresh out of Georgia Tech," he said. "There was nothing here."
Haggard says he could sense it wouldn't be that way for long, because the base kept expanding and bringing in more people.
"I started out working on radars and then moved to electronic warfare, and electronic warfare just blossomed and bloomed," he said. "There were 12 of us to start with and it grew to several hundred people."
Their work provided crucial military capabilities used by the U.S. in the Vietnam War.
Meanwhile, he says homes, hotels, and businesses all started to pop up throughout the city.
"I was there as the base was creating and stimulating all of that growth, and I got to be part of that," he said.
He says people in the area always knew the base was important to their community, but they also started to understand the impact it had on the state and national levels.
"You can even imagine the talent that is sitting out there at work every day supporting the weapons systems for the Air Force," he said.
Haggard says the base is able to recruit and keep those talented workers because of the Warner Robins community and its continued support.
"It's a natural partnership," he says. "Their survival depends on each other."
Back in the 1960s, Haggard says he could have never imagined that Robins would grow to what it is today, but he's excited to see what else is on the horizon for the base and the Warner Robins community.