Like the Trust Building across Market Street, the Temple Building was constructed by banker John Sprunt Hill. The Spanish Colonial styling relates it both to Hill's home in Morehead Hill and to the second Watts Hospital (now North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics) — named for and paid for by Hill's father-in-law, George Washington Watts. In fact, the Temple Building was constructed with material left over from the hospital — including the red tiles that give the building a distinct Mediterranean quality. The "Temple" name derives from the use of its upper floors, in times past, as meeting space for the Elks and Odd Fellows lodges.