Temple became known statewide because of the Temple Model School which opened in 1904. The school became a model for other schools in its agricultural and homemaking programs and its horse-drawn transportation system. Temple had the Nations 1st School Bus.

The city of temple was settled in 1882 along the Georgia pacific railroad as it was being built between Atlanta and Birmingham. Temple was named for Major Robert H. Temple, a civil war veteran and chief engineer of the railroad. The town was chartered in 1883.