USF CU’s History You Can Bank On: The Fascinating Story Behind Temple Terrace, Florida

Our storytelling series History You Can Bank On explores the fascinating stories behind the communities, businesses, and people we serve at USF Credit Union.  And today, we’re taking a closer look at one of Hillsborough County’s most historic communities: Temple Terrace.

You might know Temple Terrace for its beautiful neighborhoods and historic character. But the story of this small city goes back more than a century - to a time when orange groves stretched across the landscape and a new community was being carefully planned around golf, citrus and the Florida sunshine.

In 1925, Temple Terrace was officially established as one of America’s earliest planned golf and citrus communities.

Even the name has a story.

Temple Terrace was named after the Temple orange, a variety that became closely associated with Florida citrus. And the community itself was designed with a distinctly Mediterranean Revival style, giving Temple Terrace an architectural character that still helps set it apart today.

But long before the city took shape, the land had a very different identity.

Turpentine workers harvested the area's pine forests. Railroads helped connect the growing region. And thousands of orange trees eventually transformed the landscape into a thriving citrus community.

Then came golf.

Temple Terrace's original 1920s golf course remains one of the community's most remarkable pieces of history. The course is still in place today and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places - preserving a piece of the community's original vision more than a century later.

What began with citrus groves, railroads, golf and ambitious plans eventually became a community with a character all its own.

Today, Temple Terrace is the smallest incorporated city in Hillsborough County. But its size doesn't tell the whole story.  Its history is big.

From orange groves to historic greens, Temple Terrace has continued to evolve while holding onto the character that made it special in the first place.

Because at the heart of Temple Terrace's story isn't just golf, citrus or architecture.  It's community.

And that’s History You Can Bank On!