(November 4, 1843 - October 5, 1901)

Born near Fredericksburg, Virginia, Bernard Moore Temple was a noted railroad engineer. In 1862, he enlisted in the Virginia artillery, joining the Confederate Army, where he acquired engineering experience in artillery and ordnance. Temple made use of his skills when he moved to Kansas to work as a railway engineer in 1868. During the next four years, he worked for three railway companies, building lines in Kansas and Nebraska, while apprenticing under master railroad builders, including the noted engineer and aviation pioneer, Octave Chanute.
     In 1872, Temple joined the Texas and Pacific Railroad. He worked in Texas under another leading figure in railroads, Grenville M. Dodge. In 1875, Temple moved to Galveston; there he married Ida May Shipman, with whom he reared two children. The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway hired him as a surveyor, and in 1877, he became the de facto chief engineer. The company rapidly laid tracks, reaching Bell County on the way to Santa Fe, New Mexico by 1880. The railroad decided to branch off a northward line to Fort Worth from a town named in honor of Temple; lots were sold for the new settlement beginning in 1881.
     In 1884, Temple left the company, though he continued to work on projects in Texas. Under railroad magnate Collis P. Huntington, who later employed him, Temple developed and built the noted Pecos High Bridge across the Pecos River. Afterwards, he returned to Galveston, where he built jetties and served as city engineer (1895-1897) and as water works superintendent (1899-1901). Temple had the water system up within three weeks after the storm of 1900. He died in 1901, and today is remembered as a leading figure in railroad and engineering work throughout Texas.

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Show me all markers in:  Temple, TX  |  Bell County  |  76501  |  Texas  |  United States of America

Pool of Tears Veterans Memorial
Site of Organization of the Texas Forestry Association
City of Temple
Temple Public Library
Cora Anderson Negro Hospital
Wilson Van Dyke
Moffat Cemetery
Bell County
Little River Fort
Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway Planing Mill

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