Laid out in the 1750s, the area has been the focus of the town's civic and economic affairs since, and includes its finest assortment of 18th and early 19th-century architecture.

[3] The area that is now the northern Worcester County town of Templeton was organized as a township called Narragansett Number 6 in 1734, but significant settlement did not begin until the 1750s.

The town center's economy also benefited from being a crossroads of three major stagecoach routes, with a number of taverns serving passing travelers.

Chair manufacturing became a significant enterprise after 1820, and there was a small tin factory located in what is now the Grange hall.

Development in the center ceased as a significant activity around 1860, as industrial employment was drawn to larger surrounding communities.