Thompson is a city in Winnebago County, Iowa, United States.

[2] 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.

[5] A post office opened in 1890, and rural carrier service was established in 1904.

Groups of farmers joined together to establish their own small phone companies, and 12 systems shared the town's joint switchboard and party lines.

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 creamery consolidated the earlier milk station operations at Amund corner, Vinje, and three other locations, which used large volume separators to skim off cream.

Cooling and churning were powered by a steam boiler until electricity was installed.

[15] The landmark Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad 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.

[16] 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.

[11] 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.

[18] During the 2020 Covid pandemic, 79 Thompson area businesses received CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program loans.

[20] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.88 square miles (2.28 km2), all land.

The 240-acre farm "houses one million cage-free hens and pullets", a feed mill, and an egg processing plant.

[26] Between 1979 and 2019, 223 recipients in the Thompson zipcode, 50478, received a total of $37,500,717 in farm subsidy payments.

[citation needed] Businesses serving travelers include the Branding Iron Restaurant, Bucket's Bar and Grill, Hometown Market, and a car wash.[31][6][32]