Thompsons is located on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe line and Farm Road 2759, twelve miles southeast of Richmond in eastern Fort Bend County.
The roots of this quaint rural town go back hundreds of years. Despite the tremendous growth around the community, Thompsons continues to maintain its small town traditions and values.
Settlement began around 1830, when Robert E. Bohannon moved to Texas from Alabama and was given a land grant under a program where the Mexican government contracted with empresario Stephen F. Austin to bring in settlers. When Bohannon died, his wife married Hiram Thompson, who named the community after himself.
It became a station on the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe in 1879, and was granted a post office in 1888. The town was at one time was called Thompson’s Switch. By 1896 the community had an estimated 300 residents, who were served by a cotton gin, a general store and two saloons. The community had a population of 104 in 1900.
In 1903, the Thompsons school district, surrounded by former plantations farmed predominantly by Black tenants, had three Black schools with 175 pupils and one White school with 8 pupils. From the 1920s through the mid-1940s the town reported a population of 75. The Cane Belt Railroad built a second line through the community in 1930, and in 1940 the town included a school, a cotton gin, a store and two churches. In 1947 the community reported a population of 100; in 1972, 73; in 1982, 240; in 1990, 167 and in 2000, 236. The current population is 188.
Despite its size, Thompsons has made major strides. The city incorporated in 1979, elected a mayor and five aldermen and established a fire department. Later a city hall was constructed, and a park, streetlights and quality roads were added.
The Town of Thompsons is not lacking when comes to excitement. It was the quaint setting for the filming of two movies, “Hope” directed by Goldie Hawn released in 1997 and “The Con” released in 1998.
Portions adapted from S.A. McMillan,
Comp., The Book of Fort Bend County
(Richmond, Texas, 1926)