History
Scott & White Hospital
The Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railway established the town of Temple in 1881 and located the Santa Fe Railway Hospital at Temple in 1891. Dr. Arthur Carroll Scott, Sr. (1865-1940) became Chief Surgeon of the Railway in 1892. In 1895 he hired Dr. Raleigh R. White, Jr., (1871-1917) who was promoted to co-chief Surgeon by 1897.
History
Scott and White School of Nursing
The School of Nursing was founded in 1904 by Dr. Arthur C. Scott and Dr. Raleigh White, Jr., as a part of their Temple Sanitarium to provide professional training for nurses. Initially a small local student body was instructed by the doctors and nursing superintendent at their facility, a former Catholic convent on South Fifth Street and Avenue F in Temple.
History
Seaton Brethren Church
In the middle 19th century, Moravian Czech immigrants began arriving in Texas, settling throughout the central part of the state. Descendants of the Czech religious movement known as Jednota Bratrska, or "Unity of the Brethren," based on the teachings of Jan Hus, were among those seeking religious freedom as well as economic opportunity. In 1881, several Czech families settled in this area.
Military
Second Armored Division, U. S. Army
Gen. Patton's "Hell on Wheels," the 2nd Armored Division, United States Army Formed to meet 20th century challenges, this force includes Battery A, 1st Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery, which has been in service since 1778. That battery and other veteran units have found new capabilities in this age of mechanized combat involving lightning mobility and massive firepower.
History
Seven Star Cemetery
Temple incorporated in 1882, the same year the Missouri, Kansas and Texas (MKT) Railway built a line through this area. This land was most likely owned by the rail company, but few records exist about the burial ground's early history. Many stories surround the cemetery, though, including that it began as a slave cemetery in the 1860s or as a public burial ground for African American residents.
History
Sharp Cemetery and Rock Creek Baptist Church of Christ
Emily LeSeur Haynes Sharp (1824-1880) came to Texas from Alabama with her first husband, William Glenn Haynes. They settled in Harrison County, where they owned a large amount of land and operated a cotton gin. William Haynes died in 1849, and three years later Emily married Augustus V. Sharp (1810-1868). The Sharp family moved to this area in 1859 and settled along the Lampasas River.
Industry & Science
Site of 1920's Factory of the Temple Monoplane
Pioneer commercial aircraft developed by engineering genius George W. Williams, who with Roy Sanderford, George Carroll, and his brother E.K. Williams, formed Texas Aero Corporation in 1927. The firm obtained (June 23, 1928) Approved Type Certificate No. 45 of the U.S. Department of Commerce, to make and sell the Temple Monoplane.
History
Site of Booker T. Washington School
With overcrowded buildings at the African American school in southwestern Bartlett, the Bartlett trustees bought four buildings from Camp Swift in Bastrop to enlarge the facilities. A bond issue passed in 1948, and plans began for a U-shaped building. Otto Lange served as contractor for the schoolhouse, built here, on the former site of the Bartlett Civilian Conservation Corps Camp.
History
Site of Childers-Shanklin Mill
First water power mill in Bell County. Built in 1847 by Robert Childers, pioneer settler, Indian fighter, served in the Army of Texas, 1836. Sold in 1856 to G. W. Shanklin, 1799-1888, who built best water race in Texas. Site of stage stand on Old Military Road. Crossing place of Chisholm cattle trail. Erected by the State of Texas 1936
History
Site of Dulaney's Mill
Farm complex noted for grist mill, cotton gin, general store, blacksmith shop. Owned by John Thornton Dulaney (1825-1916), who in 1849 left his native Virginia, going to California gold rush. He married Mary Jane Gates (1836-1925), whose parents settled in Texas in 1821. Dulaney's home at this site was built in 1868, after his return from Civil War.
History
Site of Early Belton House
A large building erected here 1850, by Mrs. Sarah Lawler (1807-1890). In this structure, little more than a shed, Mrs. Lawler boarded workmen who were surveying and building Nolanville (later renamed Belton), county seat of newly-created Bell County. Tents, brush arbors, log cabins, and clapboard shanties dotted the landscape; and people moved in before the town was entirely laid out. Mrs.
History
Site of German-English School
Established by German immigrants in 1880, the German-English School was an early school in the Bartlett area. First called Indian Creek School, the name was changed due to popular usage and the nature of instruction, which was in English during the winter and and German during the summer. Closely associated with St.
History
Site of New Colony School
In 1905-1906 Czech families from Elgin (Bastrop County) and Taylor (Williamson County) relocated to this area and established the Nova Osada (New Colony) community. The first school, known as "Blue School," opened in 1909 in a one-room fraternal lodge hall built in 1908 on land purchased from John and Frances Shenkir. Vince Stepan, Sam S. Bennett, and B.S. Guess served as first trustees.
Industry & Science
Site of the Central Manufacturing Co.
A Scotsman, Robert Naismith (1859-1939), founded the Central Manufacturing Co. in a two-story building on this lot in 1893. Using equipment originally powered by steam, he supplied and repaired machine parts for the Belton area. The company also did iron work and blacksmithing and each summer cleaned the city water supply standpipe.
History
Site of the Organization of the Texas Forestry Association
One of Texas' oldest conservation organiations. W. Goodrich Jones (1860-1950), who came to Temple as a banker in 1888, felt need for trees in this prairie town. He led planting drives in Temple, and in 1889 saw to the establishment of a statewide Arbor Day. Asked by the Chief U.S. Forester to survey Texas forest resources, Jones later enlisted aid of friends. On Nov.
History
Site of Thomas Arnold High School
Dr. Samuel J. Jones (1857-1918) and his wife, Charlotte Hallaran Jones (d. 1904), established Thomas Arnold High School on this site in 1890. The school, which was actually a private academy, occupied the stone buildings vacated by Salado College, where Dr. Jones taught.
History
Six Miles East to Site of Little River Fort
A stockade and blockhouse of the Republic of Texas. Built in November, 1836, by a unit of some 20 Rangers under Lt. George B. Erath (soldier-statesman for whom Erath County was named). By Christmas they had erected 7 or 8 cabins, a blockhouse and a picket stockade, which enclosed about 1/2 acre of land. A spring nearby supplied water.
History
St. John Lutheran Church
The first Lutheran worship services in this area were held at the home of early German settler J.E. Pietzsch, who had moved from Austin County. In 1880 a small school and church building was erected on land donated by John Bartlett, for whom the nearby town of Bartlett was named. St. John Lutheran Church was formally organized on December 16, 1883. A year later the Rev.
Architecture
Stagecoach Inn
Constructed during the 1860s, the Stagecoach Inn was known as Salado Hotel and as Shady Villa before the current name was adopted in 1943. Military figures George Armstrong Custer and Robert E. Lee, and cattle baron Shanghai Pierce are among those thought to have stayed here.
History
Stampede Creek
Stampede Creek takes its name from a horse stampede that occurred near this site in 1839. On May 26 of that year, Capt. John Bird and a Ranger force of 34 men encountered more than 200 Caddo, Kickapoo and Comanche Indians at what became known as the Battle of Bird's Creek. The Rangers returned to Bird's Creek a week later to bury their dead and then headed west in pursuit of the Indians.
Architecture
Steakley Home
The F. L. Wright Home was built on old stagecoach road in 1874, seven years before Temple was founded. It is still on original boid d'arc stumps foundation. Has original chimneys, and roof line. The builder was 1867 settler from Alabama, Confederate veteran F. L. Wright. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1964
History
Stockton Family Cemetery
The Stockton Family Cemetery is located on land originally granted in 1859 by Texas governor Hardin R. Runnels to Moses Allen, a veteran of the Siege of Bexar. Douglas Hayden Stockton and his wife Mary Elizabeth (White) brought their family to Bell County in 1870. With partner J.O. Darby, the Stocktons purchased over 1,200 acres of the Moses Allen land grant that year.
History
Summers' Mill
Summers' Mill,1866. Parts came by ox-team from Houston. Ground corn for bread. Formed center for settlement. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1965.
History
Temple Daily Telegram
The Temple Daily Telegram, which dates to 1907, has had a strong historical impact on the development of the area. It has ties to the earliest community newspaper, the Weekly Times, first distributed in 1881, the year of Temple's founding. The Temple Daily Telegram grew and prospered from its inception, and by 1929, when newspaper executive Ward C. Mayborn and his three sons, Frank W.
Civic & Local
Temple Public Library
On March 29, 1900, the Women's Literary Club and the Self Culture Club formed a city federation for the purpose of organizing a public library. Soon the first library opened in a corner of the post office building and later moved to a book store. In 1901 the national library program of steel millionaire Andrew Carnegie funded a library building.
Elsewhere in Texas
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
