Temple at a glance
Temple is in northeastern Bell County on Interstate 35. The Texas State Historical Association puts it about 36 miles south of Waco and about 67 miles north of Austin. Belton, the county seat, is the next city to the southwest, and the two cities share Belton Lake and the Leon River.
The town was built by a railroad and then by its hospitals. The Santa Fe depot still stands downtown and still has passenger trains. Baylor Scott & White and the Veterans Affairs medical center are both here, along with Temple College. Loop 363 circles the city and ties I-35 to the state highways.
A short history
In 1880 Jonathan E. Moore sold 187 acres to the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway. The post office opened in January 1881 and the town was named for Bernard Moore Temple, the railroad's chief engineer. The railroad held its town lot sale that June. Temple incorporated in 1882, the same year the Missouri, Kansas and Texas line came through and the Santa Fe made Temple a division point.
The railroad also brought medicine. The Santa Fe Hospital was established in 1891 and King's Daughters Hospital opened in 1897. Dr. Arthur C. Scott and Dr. Raleigh R. White Jr. opened the Temple Sanitarium in 1904, which became Scott and White. A Veterans Administration hospital opened in 1942. Temple Junior College, now Temple College, opened in 1926.
The Santa Fe depot at 315 West Avenue B was completed in 1911. The city restored it and reopened it in 2000. Today it holds the Temple Railroad and Heritage Museum and the Amtrak station. Most of downtown is in the Temple Commercial Historic District, which was listed on the National Register in 2005.
Homes and housing in Temple
Temple has housing from nearly every decade since the railroad arrived. The oldest houses are north of downtown, where the city has a locally designated historic district. Moving out from the center you find mid-century neighborhoods, then subdivisions from the 1990s and 2000s, and new construction on the west and south sides of town.
Temple is in Blackland Prairie country. The USDA describes the Houston Black series, the classic Blackland soil, as a clay that shrinks and swells markedly as it dries and wets, and says that is commonly a limitation for building sites. In practice, slab foundations here deserve a careful look, in an older house or a new one.
Inside the city limits homes are on City of Temple water and sewer. Past the limits, toward the lake and out in the county, ask whether a property is on city sewer or a septic system, and who supplies the water. It varies from one road to the next.
Neighborhoods and subdivisions
The City of Temple divides its older core into neighborhood planning districts. The names are the ones locals use: Historic, Downtown, Central, Midtown, Bellaire, Crestview, Ferguson Park, Jackson Park, Garden, Bird Creek, Temple Heights, Las Cruces, Barnhardt, Northwest Hills, Oak Hills, East Downs and TMED, the medical and education district around the hospitals and Temple College.
The city has two locally designated residential historic districts, the North Central Temple Historic District and the African American Churches Historic District. Exterior alterations, new construction and demolition there need a certificate of appropriateness from the city before a building permit is issued. Staff or the Historic Preservation Board reviews each one.
Western Hills is an established neighborhood in Temple ISD with its own elementary school. Canyon Creek is in south Temple near Loop 363.
On the south side, Alta Vista and Wyndham Hill were built off South 5th Street. They are inside the Temple city limits, and local news has reported them as Academy ISD addresses, so confirm with the district. On the west side, Lakewood Ranch and its newer Groves sections sit off West Adams Avenue near Lakewood Elementary, a Belton ISD campus.
Schools
Four public school districts serve addresses inside Temple. Temple ISD covers most of the city. The city's own education page says Belton ISD covers the west and southwest portions, and it lists Academy ISD and Troy ISD as serving parts of Temple too. District lines do not follow the city limits, so check the exact address with the district before you write an offer.
Belton ISD has several campuses with Temple addresses, including Lake Belton High School, which opened in the fall of 2020 on FM 2483. Academy ISD is based in Little River and Troy ISD is based in Troy, and their campuses are in those towns. Temple College is the public community college. It opened in 1926 and has been on its current campus since 1957.
- Temple High School
- Grades 9 to 12, Temple ISD
- Fred W. Edwards Academy
- Temple ISD campus; ask the district which programs and grades it serves
- Wheatley Alternative Education Center
- Alternative campus, Temple ISD
- Bonham Middle School
- Middle school, Temple ISD
- Lamar Middle School
- Middle school, Temple ISD
- Travis Science Academy
- Middle school, Temple ISD
- Hector P. Garcia Elementary School
- Elementary, Temple ISD
- Jefferson Elementary School
- Elementary, Temple ISD
- Kennedy-Powell Elementary School
- Elementary, Temple ISD
- Raye-Allen Elementary School
- Elementary, Temple ISD
- Sampson-Howard Elementary School
- Elementary, Temple ISD
- Scott Elementary School
- Elementary, Temple ISD
- Thornton Elementary School
- Elementary, Temple ISD
- Western Hills Elementary School
- Elementary, Temple ISD
- Meridith-Dunbar Early Childhood Academy
- Early childhood, Temple ISD
- Lake Belton High School
- Grades 9 to 12, Belton ISD, 9809 FM 2483, Temple
- Lake Belton Middle School
- Middle school, Belton ISD, 8818 Tarver Drive, Temple
- North Belton Middle School
- Middle school, Belton ISD, 7907 Prairie View Road, Temple
- High Point Elementary
- Elementary, Belton ISD, 1635 Starlight Drive, Temple
- Alice J. Tarver Elementary
- Elementary, Belton ISD, 7949 Stonehollow Drive, Temple
- Charter Oak Elementary
- Elementary, Belton ISD, 8402 Poison Oak Road, Temple
- Joe M. Pirtle Elementary
- Elementary, Belton ISD, 714 South Pea Ridge Road, Temple
- Lakewood Elementary
- Elementary, Belton ISD, 11200 West Adams Avenue, Temple
- Academy ISD
- Based in Little River; serves part of south Temple, including Alta Vista and Wyndham Hill
- Troy ISD
- Based in Troy; listed by the City of Temple as serving part of the city
- Central Texas Christian School
- Private, PreK to 12, 4141 West FM 93, Temple
- Holy Trinity Catholic High School
- Private, grades 9 to 12, 6608 West Adams Avenue, Temple
- Saint Mary's School
- Private school listed on the City of Temple education page
- Temple College
- Public community college, opened in 1926 as Temple Junior College
Parks, lakes and the outdoors
Belton Lake is on the Leon River west of town. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finished the dam in 1954 and still runs the lake. Temple's Lake Park is the Corps day-use park on the east shore, in view of the dam, with covered picnic sites, a swim beach and two boat ramps. The day-use side closes for the winter. FM 2305, which is West Adams Avenue, is the road out.
Miller Springs Nature Center sits just below the dam, between the Leon River and the bluffs. It is about 260 acres of undeveloped land with more than 10 miles of trails in several loops. It is open every day at no charge and is managed jointly by the cities of Temple and Belton.
In town, Crossroads Park is the big athletic complex in west Temple, about 260 acres, with fields, a disc golf course and a trail tied into the Pepper Creek Trail. The city also runs Sammons Golf Course, Summit Recreation Center, Wilson Park Recreation Center and Lions Junction Family Water Park.
- Temple's Lake Park
- Corps of Engineers day-use park on Belton Lake: picnic sites, swim beach, two boat ramps; day-use area closed in winter
- Miller Springs Nature Center
- About 260 acres below Belton Dam with more than 10 miles of trails; managed by Temple and Belton
- Crossroads Park
- About 260 acres in west Temple at 1020 Research Parkway: athletic fields, disc golf, trail connection to Pepper Creek Trail
- Pepper Creek Trail
- Paved hike and bike trail on the west side of Temple
- Lions Park
- City park with a free disc golf course in place since 2005
- Lions Junction Family Water Park
- City water park with three-story slides and a lazy river; summer season
- Reuben D. Talasek Bend of the River
- City park property listed by Temple Parks and Recreation
- Sammons Golf Course
- Municipal course, open to the public year-round
- Summit Recreation Center
- City fitness center with courts and a pool
- Wilson Park Recreation Center
- City recreation center
- Santa Fe Plaza and Santa Fe Gardens
- Downtown public spaces next to the depot
Things to do, shopping and dining
Downtown is where the old Temple shows. The Temple Railroad and Heritage Museum fills the 1911 Santa Fe depot, with locomotives, cabooses and other rolling stock on the grounds and a large Santa Fe archive inside. Santa Fe Plaza next door is the city's main event space, and the city runs a food truck plaza called The Yard.
The Cultural Activities Center on North 3rd Street was incorporated in 1958. It has galleries, classes and a concert series in the Frank Mayborn Auditorium. The Frank W. Mayborn Civic and Convention Center is the city's meeting and banquet hall. The Temple Public Library is downtown on West Adams.
The Czech Heritage Museum and Genealogy Center has been part of Temple since the SPJST began its library and museum collection in 1963. As of 2026 the museum is closed while it moves to the SPJST building at 520 North Main Street, so check its website before you go.
Annual events
The Christmas parade has the longest record. The city counted the 2023 parade as the 77th. It runs through downtown along Adams Avenue on a Monday evening in early December, right after the tree lighting at the Municipal Building, and entries are lit for the night route.
The Fourth of July show is at Crossroads Park, with live music, an opening ceremony and fireworks, and it is free. The spring festival changed recently. The city retired the Bloomin' Temple Festival and started Petals & Pints in spring 2025. It is held in March at Santa Fe Plaza.
- Temple Christmas Parade and Tree Lighting
- Monday evening in early December, downtown along Adams Avenue; the 2023 parade was the 77th
- H-E-B 4th of July Fun Fest and Fireworks Show
- July 4 at Crossroads Park; music, ceremony and fireworks; free
- Petals & Pints
- March, Santa Fe Plaza; started in spring 2025 in place of the Bloomin' Temple Festival; free admission
Employers and the local economy
Health care is the largest piece. Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Temple is a Level I trauma center and includes McLane Children's Medical Center. Scott & White merged with Baylor Health Care System in 2013. The Central Texas Veterans Health Care System is based at the Olin E. Teague Veterans' Center on Veterans Memorial Drive.
Distribution and manufacturing come next. The Temple Economic Development Corporation lists McLane Company, the H-E-B retail distribution center, a Walmart distribution center, BNSF Railway, Performance Food Group and Wilsonart, which has made engineered surfaces here since 1956. Meta has also built a data center on the northwest side of the city.
Getting around
Interstate 35 runs north and south through the middle of Temple. Loop 363, the H.K. Dodgen Loop, circles the city and carries US 190 and State Highway 36 for part of the way. State Highway 53 heads east toward Rosebud, and State Highway 95 crosses the east side. Waco is about 36 miles north and Austin is about 67 miles south, both on I-35.
Killeen is about 27 miles west by way of Belton, and Fort Hood is just past it. Interstate 14 runs between Belton and Killeen and currently ends at I-35 in Belton. TxDOT is planning to extend it through Temple along the south side of Loop 363.
Amtrak's Texas Eagle stops at the downtown depot. Draughon-Miller Central Texas Regional Airport, about six miles northwest of town, is a city-owned general aviation field with no airline service. The nearest airline flights are at Killeen Regional Airport. The HOP, run by Hill Country Transit District, offers on-demand rides and a regional commuter route.
Utilities and practical details
The City of Temple provides water, sewer, garbage, recycling and drainage. The main city number is (254) 298-5000. Temple draws its water from the Leon River below Belton Lake, and the Brazos River Authority has run the regional wastewater plant that serves Temple and Belton since 1975.
Temple is in the deregulated part of the Texas electric market. Oncor owns the poles and wires, and you choose your own retail electric provider. City offices are in the Municipal Building at 2 North Main Street. For historic district questions, the city planning office is at (254) 298-5668.
Buying and selling in Temple
Bruce Burgess is a Temple native who has held a Texas real estate license since 1991 and has owned Champion Realty, in Belton, since 2007. These are the things he would have you check in Temple.
Before you buy
- School district lines do not follow the Temple city limits: Temple ISD, Belton ISD, Academy ISD and Troy ISD all serve parts of the city, so confirm the district for the exact address.
- Much of the area sits on Blackland Prairie clay that shrinks and swells with moisture, so have the foundation and drainage looked at closely on any house.
- Homes in the North Central Temple Historic District and the African American Churches Historic District need a city certificate of appropriateness before exterior changes or demolition.
- Look up the FEMA flood map for any lot near the Leon River or the creeks that run through town, including Bird Creek, Pepper Creek and Friar's Creek.
- Near Belton Lake and outside the city limits, ask about Corps of Engineers boundary lines along the shore and whether the property is on city sewer or septic.
Before you sell
- Buyers moving for work at Baylor Scott & White, the VA or Fort Hood often shop from out of town, so the listing should state the school district and the drive to I-35 or Loop 363 plainly.
- On clay soil, a recent foundation or drainage report answers the first question most Temple buyers and inspectors will ask.
- If the home is in one of the two local historic districts, have the certificate of appropriateness records for past exterior work ready.
