Thompson is a city in

Winnebago County, Iowa Winnebago County is a county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,679. The county seat is Forest City. The county was founded in 1847 and named after the Native American tribe. It is the location of the mot ...

, United States. The population was 495 at the time of the 2020 census. Thompson is home to the Winnebago County Fair, held annually, various agricultural businesses, a public outdoor swimming pool, the Thompson Museum, and Bethany Lutheran Church, built in 1902.

History

Thompson was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted in 1892. It was incorporated as a city in 1894. A post office opened in 1890, and rural carrier service was established in 1904. The Thompson Courier began publication in 1894, and is still in business. In 1938, the paper expanded operations with the purchase of the Rake Register, becoming the Thompson Courier and Rake Register. Thompson's first telephone switchboard was installed in the home of Dr. G.M. Lee in 1894. Groups of farmers joined together to establish their own small phone companies, and 12 systems shared the town's joint switchboard and party lines. By the 1940s, the Switchboard Company had purchased its own building, and the Thompson Telephone Company and Thompson Telephone Cooperative were formed. In 1951, the local Rural Electrification Association released a movie featuring several Thompson residents, who described the struggles for adequate phone service in Winnebago County, until a federal Rural Electrification Administration telephone loan finally enabled the Winnebago Cooperative Telephone Association to provide modern dial service. The Thompson Cooperative Creamery was chartered in 1897. The creamery consolidated the earlier milk station operations at Amund corner, Vinje, and three other locations, which used large volume separators to skim off

cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

. Cooling and churning were powered by a

steam boiler file:Dampfkessel für eine Stationärdampfmaschine im Textilmuseum Bocholt.jpg, An industrial boiler, originally used for supplying steam to a stationary steam engine A boiler or steam generator is a device used to create steam by applying heat ...

until electricity was installed. The Farmers Cooperative Elevator Company formed in 1907, as farmers were dissatisfied with the prices received at the three independent

grain elevators A grain elevator or grain terminal is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lowe ...

. The Thompson Fire Department built its fire hall in 1925. Thompson was without a bank for over a year after the First National Bank shut its doors on June 26, 1932, and the State Bank of Thompson and First National Bank of Thompson failed. The Peoples State Bank opened in Thompson on August 1, 1933. The Thompson Public Library was established in 1937-1938, as a civic improvement project by the Thompson Study Club. The library was located in the Town Hall for 45 years. The library moved into a remodeled section of the fire station in 1983. In 1938, the Winnebago Rural Electric Cooperative was established. The first section of lines was energized on January 3, 1940. A large cement grain elevator was built in 1950, and an even larger cement elevator in 1967. The landmark

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad The original Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At ...

depot on Main Street burned to the ground on February 26, 1963. The railroad brought in a small structure which served as its replacement until the line shut down in 1980. On October 30, 1974, Peoples State Bank was robbed by three unmasked men. An abandoned getaway car was found on a gravel road about six miles from town, but the robbers were never apprehended. One of the worst fires in Thompson's history occurred on December 22, 1980, and destroyed about half of the Main Street business block, including the Branding Iron Supper Club, which moved into a new building. In 1983, one of the cement grain elevators ruptured, and was demolished. During the 2020 Covid pandemic, 79 Thompson area businesses received CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program loans.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2020, there were 495 people, 247 households, and 124 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was 577.7 inhabitants per square mile (223.0/km²). There were 277 housing units at an average density of 323.3 per square mile (124.8/km²). The

racial 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 16th century, when it was used to refer to groups of va ...

makeup of the city was 92.3%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.0% Black or African American, 0.0% Native American, 1.0% Asian, 0.0%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 3.6% from other races and 2.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino persons of any race comprised 5.9% of the population. Of the 247 households, 20.2% of which had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 7.7% were cohabitating couples, 24.7% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present and 30.4% had a male householder with no spouse or partner present. 49.8% of all households were non-families. 44.1% of all households were made up of individuals, 18.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years old or older. The median age in the city was 47.4 years. 20.2% of the residents were under the age of 20; 3.4% were between the ages of 20 and 24; 23.2% were from 25 and 44; 28.9% were from 45 and 64; and 24.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 51.5% male and 48.5% female.

2010 census

As of the

of 2010, there were 502 people, 236 households, and 141 families residing in the city. The

was . There were 285 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.6%

, 1.0% Asian, 0.8% from other races, and 0.6% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.0% of the population. There were 236 households, of which 23.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.3% were

living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 40.3% were non-families. 35.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.13 and the average family size was 2.67. The median age in the city was 44 years. 21.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.2% were from 25 to 44; 29.4% were from 45 to 64; and 18.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.8% male and 50.2% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 596 people, 261 households, and 169 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 278 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.65%

, 0.34% Native American, 0.50% Asian, 0.67% from other races, and 0.84% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 1.51% of the population. There were 261 households, out of which 28.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.6% were

living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.2% were non-families. 30.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.76. 23.5% were under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 20.8% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $32,868, and the median income for a family was $39,688. Males had a median income of $27,727 versus $21,630 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $18,919. About 8.4% of families and 9.6% 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 16.2% of those under age 18 and 2.9% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The independent school district of Thompson was incorporated in 1894. Thompson High School graduated its first class in 1900, and its last class in 1989. Thompson's horse drawn school bus was replaced by a motorized school bus in 1909. Thompson is now within the North Iowa Community School District, which was established on July 1, 1996, by the merger of the Buffalo Center–Rake–Lakota Community School District and the Thompson Community School District. There was a Buffalo Center School District that merged with the Rake School District to form the Buffalo Center-Rake district on July 1, 1978. On July 1, 1992, that district merged with the Lakota School District to form the Buffalo Center–Rake–Lakota district, and that district merged into North Iowa in 1996.

Agriculture business

Linden Hill, a small CSA (community sponsored agriculture) farm and farm stand, produces vegetables, honey and herbs. In 2021, Ovation Farms, a former Rembrandt Foods farm, was acquired by Iowa Cage-Free, part of the Versova family of companies. The 240-acre farm "houses one million cage-free hens and pullets", a feed mill, and an egg processing plant. Horswell Potato Farms, established in 1953, sold potatoes to Midwestern chain stores. It was one of the first farms to wash its potatoes and package them in consumer sized bags. The farm also grew

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...

s, The operation was sold in 1968. Between 1979 and 2019, 223 recipients in the Thompson zipcode, 50478, received a total of $37,500,717 in farm subsidy payments.

Notable people

* Clifford Branstad, politician * Judy Klemesrud, journalist

References

External links

City of Thompson official website
{{authority control Cities in Winnebago County, Iowa Cities in Iowa 1892 establishments in Iowa Populated places established in 1892