The Northern Air Temple was the site where many important technological advancements in the world took place. The temple was later inhabited by a group of Earth Kingdom refugees led by the mechanist, who settled there after their own village was destroyed by a flood. Its original population, however, was wiped out at the beginning of the Hundred Year War, during the Air Nomad Genocide. Located in the mountains along the northern coast of the Earth Kingdom continent, this temple was one of the two temples that traditionally housed male airbenders, the other being the Southern Air Temple.

The Northern Air Temple was one of the four original temples that belonged to the Air Nomads.