Dr. Joseph Thompson (September 29, 1797 in Spartanburg County, South Carolina – August 21, 1885) was an early settler of Atlanta, Georgia, doctor, hotelier, and real-estate investor.

Born to a Pennsylvania-bred family in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, he practiced medicine as a youth.

He had many residents there including Atlanta's first mayor Moses Formwalt (whose estate Thompson later administered) and Alexander H. Stephens (who was stabbed at the hotel in 1848 by Judge Francis H. Cone).

He owned many important parcels of land in the young city including the future location of the SunTrust Bank building at Five Points.

After the Civil War, he sold $70,000 worth of real estate including the site of his hotel where the Kimball House was later built.