Temple

History

Temple was founded as a railroad town by the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad (GC&SF). The settlement began in 1880 as a GC&SF construction camp called Temple Junction. In January 1881, a post office was established, and the settlement was officially named Temple, after Bernard Moore Temple, the chief civil engineer of the GC&SF. The town was incorporated in 1882. Also in 1882, the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway built through the town, and soon after, the GC&SF made Temple a division point. The city became home to numerous medical clinics and the Santa Fe Hospital and Scott and White Memorial Hospital; the two hospitals merged in 1983 and now form the Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Temple. Temple's position as the largest city in Bell County was earned largely on account of its medical facilities and its importance as a major railroad junction. popularly known as the Santa Fe Railroad or simply the Santa Fe. The Santa Fe's Temple depot was the site of the largest Harvey House restaurant in Texas, and the Harvey House organization also operated a dairy and vegetable farm near the city. Harvey Houses provided meals for Santa Fe passengers during stopovers and were also popular with local customers. The chain was famous for its high-quality food and its iconic uniformed all-female "Harvey Girl" waitstaff. The Temple Railroad and Heritage Museum, on the second floor of the Santa Fe Railroad depot at 315 West Avenue B, commemorates the significance of railroads for the city and includes a large collection of Harvey House memorabilia.

Geography

Temple is located northeast of the center of Bell County. It is the second-largest city in Bell County. It is bordered to the southwest, on the opposite side of the Leon River, by Belton, the county seat. Temple is situated within a relatively short drive of most of the major cities of Texas: 124 mi north to Fort Worth, 130 mi north-northeast to Dallas, 65 mi southwest to Austin, 147 mi southwest to San Antonio, and 168 mi southeast to Houston. The city is located right on Interstate 35, running alongside the Balcones Fault with very varied geography. Towards the east lies the Blackland Prairie region (a rich farming area), and towards the west, the terrain rises with low, rolling, limestone-layered hills at the northeastern tip of the Texas Hill Country. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which are land and are covered by water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,797
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  4,716
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  3,988
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,872
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  3,781
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,639
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,412
• Black Vulture

  Coragyps atratus (Bechstein, 1793) · Aves
  3,261

Largest nearby schools

• TEMPLE H S
  High · TEMPLE · 2,305 students · 12.6:1 ratio
• LAKE BELTON H S
  High · TEMPLE · 2,181 students · 15.6:1 ratio
• BELTON H S
  High · BELTON · 1,941 students · 12.4:1 ratio
• CHISHOLM TRAIL EL
  Elementary · BELTON · 868 students · 14.2:1 ratio
• NORTH BELTON MIDDLE
  Middle · TEMPLE · 857 students · 14:1 ratio
• LAKE BELTON MIDDLE
  Middle · TEMPLE · 826 students · 14.2:1 ratio
• TARVER EL
  Elementary · TEMPLE · 798 students · 16.3:1 ratio
• THORNTON EL
  Elementary · TEMPLE · 744 students · 16.9:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2015-09-03
  7 km NNE of Leander, Texas
• M 2.7 — 2007-09-15
  11 km ENE of Milano, Texas