Who We Are and
What We Have Accomplished

72 Years of History and Achievements

The Historical Society of Temple (Temple Historical Society), founded in 1941, is a 501(c)(3) organization under the Internal Revenue Code. Its purpose is to stimulate interest in the history of Temple and to discover, secure, and preserve information and objects relating to that history.

The Historical Society is a member of the New Hampshire Historical Society & and the Association of the Historical Societies of New Hampshire.

Under Historical Society stewardship are the Temple Glassworks (National Register of Historic Places) and School House No. 6 (purchased 1994, relocated in the village 2001). The Collections include:

  • Important furniture & works of art, including Charles Osgood's portrait of Gen. James Miller, recently on loan to the Monadnock Center for History and Culture at the Peterborough Historical Society.
  • Countless unique historic documents, photographs, and objects, including bottles, flasks, & other 18th-century artifacts from the Temple Glassworks.

Important projects

  • The purchase (1994) of School House No. 6, Temple's last one-room schoolhouse in its original condition; and its relocation (2001) to the field adjacent to the Village.
  • Archaeological digs, Temple Glassworks and School House No. 6
  • Publications
    • Temple, NH in World War II
    • Old Roads and Cellar Holes
    • The New England Glassworks
    • Old Burying Ground
    • A History of Temple, NH (US Bicentennial Edition, 1976)
    • Images of America: Wilton, Temple, and Lyndeborough (a collaborative project)
  • Cemetery records: Documenting data from the gravestones of Temple cemeteries
  • Oral history: Recording and preserving recollections of longtime Temple residents
  • Historic barns and other outbuildings: Information gathering
  • Educational exhibits and tours, including 3 popular house tours & a recent (2010 & 2015) barn tour that drew hundreds of visitors
  • Educational projects with Temple schoolchildren
  • $5,000 gift for restoration of the Temple Town Hall windows
  • Restoration of the 1774 Town Pound --a joint enterprise with the Board of Selectmen
  • Collaborative exhibit, Nov. 2010 - Feb. 2011: New Hampshire Glassmakers, 1780-1886
    • The first exhibit anywhere of objects, photographs, and archaeological artifacts from NH's 5 historic glassworks, highlighting one of America's earliest industries.

Do you have questions?

Contact president Honey Hastings: honeyhastings @ earthlink.net