Templeton was laid out by Col. William J. Templeton and his wife Melissa on December 23, 1873, and contained 225 lots. Two railways, the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis (the "Big Four") and the Lafayette, Muncie and Bloomington (the "Nickel Plate"), intersected at the site. Its first building was a shanty occupied by John Cosgrove, and was soon followed by the dwellings of Col. Templeton and others. The town gained it first grain elevator in 1874 and a tile factory in 1881 which operated two large, steam-powered kilns. By 1883 the town's businesses included David Lanham & Co. and Finch & Son (both purveyors of dry goods and groceries), Joseph Dehart's notions and butcher shop, John Rosa's grocery, Dr. C. W. Fall (physician and pharmacist), Jasper Bristow (physician) and the Railroad House.[4]
Templeton's population numbered around 150 in the 1920s, at which time it also had a grain elevator, grade school and three or four stores.[5]
A post office was established at Templeton in 1873, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1931.[6]
^Mossman, Ed (1883). "History of Benton County: Past Events -- Present Condition". Counties of Warren, Benton, Jasper and Newton, Indiana: Historical and Biographical. Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co.
^Birch, Jesse Setlington (1942) [1928]. "Unincorporated community s of the County". History of Benton County and Historic Oxford. Oxford, Indiana: Craw & Craw. pp. 200–201.
^"Benton County". Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved February 29, 2020.