Currently USP Thomson houses over 100 low-security inmates as it remodels to federal maximum-security standards.

Thomson is known for wonderful watermelons, and it has the nickname "Melon Capital of the World.

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Thomson has a total area of 2.22 square miles (5.75 km2), all land.

His replacement, Governor Pat Quinn cancelled plans to close the Pontiac prison in March 2009, leaving Thomson unused.

[9][11] On December 15, 2009, President Barack Obama ordered the federal government to proceed with acquisition of the underutilized state prison in Thomson to be the new home for a limited number of terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In response to the 2009 presidential order, the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents 13,000 Illinois prison staff, argued that rather than turn the maximum-security unit over to the Federal government, it should be used to relieve overcrowding in other Illinois prisons.

[9] Subsequent Congressional banning of federal expenditures for imprisoning in the United States of terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, stopped the Obama plans regarding those terror suspects, even though the federal government announced on October 2, 2012, that the acquisition of Thomson is going forward.

Annually in December, Schafer may process up to 300,000 pounds of fish to support the Polish "Christmas Carp" tradition, and sends these packages both domestically and internationally.