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History · Thompson Township

Thompson Township’s post office opened in 1881

Most of Thompson Township was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: maps from 1931 on.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Thompson Township began

When was Thompson Township founded?

1881

The Thompson Township post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Thompson (1881), South Manistique (1883) and Little Harbor (1888), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 808145 years
Founding year: the first Thompson Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Thompson Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Thompson Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Thompson Township, and 5 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Thompson Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Thompson Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Thompson
1881–1967
South Manistique
1883–1903
Little Harbor
1888–1910
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Michiwaukee ShoresMinor BeachRichardsons MillSunset BeachThompson
Gone or out of use
Little Harbor Post Officepost officeSouth Manistique Post Officepost officeSouth Manistique StationlocaleThompson Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Thompson Township
Farley Grave SiteThompson

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Thompson Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Thompson Township.

Read it all →

After the timber boom of the late 19th century, Thompson Township's chief assets included second-growth trees such as balsam and aspen. The schooner Rouse Simmons, loaded with balsam Christmas trees, left Thompson Harbor for Chicago in November, 1912. The schooner sank with all hands off Two Rivers, Wisconsin, becoming one of the most famous shipwrecks in Lake Michigan history.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Thompson Township, 1881 to 1967

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Thompson post office opens
  3. 1883Post officeThe South Manistique post office opens
  4. 1888Post officeThe Little Harbor post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1903Post officeThe South Manistique post office closes
  7. 1910Post officeThe Little Harbor post office closes
  8. 1931On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1967Post officeThe Thompson post office closes
By decade

Thompson Township, decade by decade

Today8 recent
E. L. Thompson2019E. L. ThompsonChristmas Tree Ship2019Christmas Tree ShipThompson Township, Michigan2017Thompson Township, MichiganPalms Book State Park (Kitch-iti-kipi)2017Palms Book State Park (Kitch-iti-kipi)Indian Lake State Park (25 Aug 2017)2017Indian Lake State Park (25 Aug 2017)Indian Lake (Palms Book State Park)2017Indian Lake (Palms Book State Park)Christmas Tree Ship historic marker2017Christmas Tree Ship historic markerEmpty Beach on Lake Michigan Shoreline Near Manistique July 20162016Empty Beach on Lake Michigan Shoreline Near Manistiqu…
On the map

Thompson Township on the map, 1931 to 1983

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Thompson Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Thompson Township on the 1931 USGS mapThompson Township on the 1958 USGS mapThompson Township on the 1983 USGS map1931Cooks NE sheet · 1:31,680

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Thompson Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Inwood TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHiawatha TownshipIts storyCGarden Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Thompson Township’s history

What year was Thompson Township founded?

The Thompson Township post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (8), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.