Thompsonville is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, suc ...

(CDP) in the town of Enfield in

Hartford County Hartford County is a county located in the north central part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. According to the 2020 census, the population was 899,498, making it the second-most populous county in Connecticut. Hartford County contains th ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. The population of the CDP was 8,577 at the 2010 census.

History

Thompsonville was established in the 19th century as a carpet-

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...

community. Orrin Thompson, from whom the community takes its name, built a dam across Freshwater Brook in 1828 and opened the first

carpet A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fibers such as polypropylene, nylon, or polyester ...

mill in 1829. Thompson's first mill, named "White Mill", employed skilled weavers brought from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. Initially its product was largely flat-woven ingrain carpeting, an inexpensive type of carpeting, but over time it added more expensive weaves, such as three-ply ingrain and loop brussels. The mill had 230

loom A loom is a device used to weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but t ...

s in operation as of 1846. Carpeting continued to be manufactured in Thompsonville until 1971, by which time most production had shifted to the

southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, the CDP has a total area of , of which is land and , or 12.99%, is water. Thompsonville is located on the east bank of the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Islan ...

and is bounded by

Interstate 91 Interstate 91 (I-91) is an Interstate Highway in the New England region of the United States. It provides the primary north–south thoroughfare in the western part of the region. The Interstate generally follows the course of the Connec ...

to the east.

U.S. Route 5 U.S. Route 5 (US 5) is a north–south United States highway running through the New England states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. Significant cities along the route include New Haven, Connecticut; Hartford, Connecticut; and Springf ...

(Enfield Street) is the main road through the village, leading north to Longmeadow, Massachusetts, and into Springfield, and south through

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

and South Windsor to

East Hartford East Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 51,045 at the 2020 census. The town is located on the east bank of the Connecticut River, directly across from Hartford, Connecticut. It is home to aerospa ...

. Connecticut Route 190 crosses Route 5, leading west across the Connecticut River into Suffield and east to Hazardville.

Demographics

At the 2000 census there were 8,125 people, 3,442 households, and 1,896 families living in the CDP. The population density was . There were 3,728 housing units at an average density of . The

racial makeup A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...

of the CDP was 90.01% White, 3.96% African American, 0.33% Native American, 1.61% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 1.50% from other races, and 2.54% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.70%. Of the 3,442 households 29.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.3% were married couples living together, 17.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.9% were non-families. 36.5% of households were one person and 11.5% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 3.02. The age distribution was 25.5% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 34.0% from 25 to 44, 16.6% from 45 to 64, and 15.7% 65 or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.6 males. The median household income was $39,154 and the median family income was $42,692. Males had a median income of $38,000 versus $29,550 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $19,851. About 7.3% of families and 9.2% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 11.8% of those under age 18 and 12.0% of those age 65 or over.

References

{{authority control Enfield, Connecticut Census-designated places in Hartford County, Connecticut Connecticut populated places on the Connecticut River Neighborhoods in Connecticut Census-designated places in Connecticut