Temple University

Why go

Temple University earns time because it offers public architecture, student spaces and neighborhood connections rather than a closed collegiate enclave. Its central thread is an urban campus woven into North Philadelphia around Broad Street. Charles Library uses a broad arched entrance and terraced interior for public-facing study space. Polett Walk concentrates campus life away from Broad Street traffic.

What to look for

• Charles Library uses a broad arched entrance and terraced interior for public-facing study space.
• Polett Walk concentrates campus life away from Broad Street traffic.

The full story

Temple University is best understood through an urban campus woven into North Philadelphia around Broad Street. Temple University, commonly referred to as Temple, is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The University was founded in 1884 by Russell Conwell. Temple is among the nation's largest providers of professional education (law, medicine, podiatry, pharmacy, dentistry, and architecture), preparing the largest body of professional practitioners in Pennsylvania. Temple University was founded in 1884 by Russell Conwell, a Yale-educated Boston lawyer, orator, and ordained Baptist Minister, who had served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Conwell came to Pennsylvania in 1882 to lead the Grace Baptist Church while he began tutoring working class citizens late at night to accommodate their work schedules. These students, later dubbed "night owls," were taught in the basement of Conwell's Baptist Temple, hence where the university receives its name. The Grace Baptist Church quickly grew popular within the North Philadelphia area. A temporary board of trustees was created to handle the rapidly growing formalities associated with the church's programs. When the board conducted its first meeting they named Russell H. Conwell president of "The Temple College." Within the coming months, Grace Baptist Church appointed a new board of trustees, printed official admissions files, and issued stock to raise funds for new teaching facilities.

Useful to know

• Use an official campus tour for interior access; otherwise treat this as an outdoor walk.
• Combine it with the Wagner Free Institute when weekday opening times align.

Your next visit

Estimated · Declared scenario and planning estimates; no live opening, weather, queue or booking service.