Temple, Maine

Temple's former village school now houses the Temple Historical Society.

Temple is a town in Franklin County, Maine, United States. It is located at the end of Route 43 (Temple Road), one of only two towns in Maine to be situated as such. The town contains a school (now the Temple Historical Society), a store (Hodgkins Store, built in the early 20th century, which also houses a post office), a theatre (Temple Stream Theater; formerly the Congregational Church), a derelict baseball field, and a small fire station. What is now Maple Street was formerly named Cowturd Lane, due to "the smell of manure, fresh from cows walking in the road on their way to the barn and back, hanging in the air like swamp gas".^[1] A Soldier's Son: An American Boyhood During World War II was written by Temple native and still part-time resident John E. Hodgkins about life in the town before, during and after the conflict. It was published in 2006 by Down East Books. Bill Roorbach, another Temple native, who wrote the foreword to Hodgkins' book, released his own book on Temple Stream, entitled Temple Stream: A Rural Odyssey, in 2006.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 35.8 square miles (92.7 km²), of which, 35.6 square miles (92.1 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.6 km²) of it (0.61%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 572 people, 228 households, and 165 families residing in the town. The population density was 16.1 people per square mile (6.2/km²). There were 316 housing units at an average density of 8.9/sq mi (3.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.60% White, 0.17% Native American, 0.52% Asian, and 0.70% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.52% of the population. There were 228 households out of which 35.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.5% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.6% were non-families. 22.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.79. In the town the population was spread out with 25.7% under the age of 18, 4.9% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 27.1% from 45 to 64, and 12.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 107.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.3 males. The median income for a household in the town was $33,750, and the median income for a family was $34,931. Males had a median income of $29,844 versus $24,688 for females. The per capita income for the town was $16,905. About 7.6% of families and 10.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.1% of those under age 18 and 22.8% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

• John F. Dryden, born in Temple.
• Helen Jewett, born in Temple.

Gallery

Hodgkins Store, on Temple Road	Boyce Park, home of the now-defunct Temple Tigers baseball team	Boyce Park's scoreboard	Looking south along Intervale Road from its intersection with Day Mountain Road
Temple Fire Station	An old fire truck

See also

• Staples Pond
• Temple Stream

References

Coordinates: 44°41′06″N, 70°13′35″W