Thompsonville was established in the 19th century as a carpet-manufacturing community. Orrin Thompson, from whom the community takes its name, built a dam across Freshwater Brook in 1828 and opened the first carpet mill in 1829. Thompson's first mill, named "White Mill", employed skilled weavers brought from Scotland. Initially its product was largely flat-woven ingrain carpeting, an inexpensive type of carpeting, but over time it added more expensive weaves, such as three-ply ingrain and loop brussels. The mill had 230 looms in operation as of 1846.
Carpeting continued to be manufactured in Thompsonville until 1971, by which time most production had shifted to the southern United States.
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places listed
4
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0
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historic buildings protected
383
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National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Thompsonville in 1886
Passages that mention Thompsonville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-18841886 · page 155Read the page →
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The Episcopal Church of Thompsonville was organized as a mission in 1851, and as St, Andrew's Parish in 1855, and is gatliering to itself an increasing number of adherents.
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The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-18841886 · page 154Read the page →
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In 1839 the First Presbyterian Church of Thompsonville was formed. The first settlers of this village were largely from Scotland, who came as workmen in the mills. They had been connected with Presbyterian bodies at home, and brought with them a deep love for their mother church. While they were few they worshipjied with the Congregational Church of the town ; but in ten years their numbers had so inci'eased that they felt justified in organizing a church of their own polity. In 1845, after long and bitter dissensions over the question of instru-
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Thompsonville, decade by decade
3 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1869
1880
c. 1907