Planes, Trains & Heroes: A Story of Warner Robins and the Robins Region

FOREWORD
“Every Day in the U.S.A. is Armed
Forces Appreciation Day”—the motto
of Warner Robins.
History is what we were and what we are. Planes, Trains and Heroes: A History of Warner Robins treats
history like snapshots, documenting significant facts and important happenings. It captures images,
stories and commentaries for 2018, the seventy-fifth anniversary of a growing metropolitan region. No
history is a complete history. Rather, each history is another perspective. This author loves Georgia—a
vibrant state with historical importance to America's stature globally. Growing up beneath the flight path
of B-52s and F-15s leaves an impression. So does each individual. Planes, Trains, and Heroes looks at history
based on facts, and the stories of people who live here. A few remember Watson Boulevard “when
it was a dirt road,” the sound of Miss Nola Brantley’s school bell, a wooden train depot repurposed as a
church sanctuary, base gate guards dressed in 1950s uniforms for an Air Force anniversary, a horrific
September 11th, several Little League World Championships, and Butch, the Georgia Bulldog.
During the years 1943-1944, the Georgia Southern & Florida Railroad replaced a wooden depot
at Wellston with a larger brick structure. The wooden structure was moved and became the first
sanctuary for First Presbyterian Church. Known today as the E. L. Greenway Welcome Center, the
newer brick depot is the centerpiece for a growing historic village which includes Miss Mildred’s
Country Store and the Elberta Depot built in 1918. Elberta is a community named for the peach
produced in this area that withstood transport to markets on the eastern seaboard. Georgia is known
for its peaches and part in the great Norfolk Southern Rail System.
Warner Robins “is located in northern Houston County…and consists of over 35.82 square miles,
approximately 66,500 people and is home to Robins Air Force Base, Georgia's largest industry. It is
in the heart of Georgia's agricultural belt and boasts an ideal climate” (Warner Robins Police
Department). Warner Robins, the city which grew from Wellston and York, is one of the
fastest growing cities in the nation thanks to the continued efforts of its citizens and its role in
national defense.
The City of Warner Robins emerged because the United States ramped defenses for World War II. Most
expected the town to fade away after that war. It did not. The end of military activities in Korea and
Vietnam did not end Warner Robins. The Cold War and desert wars did not end growth in the area, either.
4 ✦ PLANES, TRAINS & HEROES