Bernard Moore Temple

Duane's take

The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just the one passing it along. Now, there are men whose names get carved into stone, and then there are men whose names get carved into the map itself. Bernard Moore Temple was the second kind.

Born in Virginia on November 4, 1843, he came of age in a country pulling itself apart, and he served in the Confederate army through the whole of the Civil War, 1861 to 1865. When it was over, he did what a certain kind of man does after a war. He went west.

And he got to work. Temple found his calling in civil engineering, and he was good at it. Good enough that he rose to chief engineer for the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad, a post he held from 1879 to 1884.

Now, that stretch of years wasn't just a title on a business card. That was the period when the railroad was pushing itself deep into Texas, laying iron across hard country, and Temple was the man supervising much of that expansion. He had a reputation for demanding quality construction.

Not good enough, not close enough. Quality. You can imagine how popular that made him on a deadline.

In 1881, the railroad founded a town along that line, and they named it Temple, Texas. Later it became a division point. His name, right there on the map of Texas, and it's still there today.

On the personal side, Temple married Ida May Shipman, born in 1861. They had two children together. Bernard Moore Temple died on October 5, 1901.

Ida May lived on until 1936. The marker was sponsored by Weldon Green Cannon. One man's insistence on doing the job right, and a Texas city carries his name to prove it.

What the marker says

(November 4, 1843 - October 5, 1901) Virginia-born B. M. Temple served in the Confederate army during the Civil War (1861-1865), then moved west to begin a noted career in civil engineering. As chief engineer for the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad, 1879-1884), he supervised much of the line's expansion in Texas, always demanding quality construction. Temple, Texas, founded by the railroad in 1881 and later a division point, was named for him. Temple married ida May Shipman (1861-1936). They had two children. Incise in base: Marker Sponsor: Weldon Green Cannon