About
Thompson
Country : United
States of America
State : Ohio
County : Geauga
Population:2
310
(census
2000)
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Thompson
Township is situated at the northeast corner of Geauga County, Ohio.
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This is
a rural, sparsely populated area and the village of Thompson is the only
centralized settlement in the township.
The little village
lies approximately 12 miles northeast from the county seat at Chardon.
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By
1799, land speculators had purchased all the township land from the Connecticut
Land Company.
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Thompson
Township was named by and for Matthew Thompson of Suffield, Connecticut,
who was one of these original purchasers. There is no record
of his ever visiting the township which bears his name. This is not unusual,
since many original purchasers never saw their holdings, but instead subdivided
them and sold smaller parcels to the first settlers.
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The
first known settler to arrive at Thompson was Dr. Isaac Palmer from Plainfield,
Connecticut, who came in 1800. Settlement proceeded slowly in the earliest
years, and only nine families were living in the township by March 1817,
when Thompson received its charter of incorporation and elected officers.
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Many
more pioneers came to Thompson following its incorporation.
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As
seen in other communities throughout the Western Reserve, the New England
concept of a town organized around a central "green" park area was followed
in the plan for Thompson village. In this instance, the town green is an
elongated oval of about 4 acres in size.
One
of the oldest buildings in Thompson is the Town Hall, located on the green
itself. As seen in the photos here, the town bandstand is situated adjacent
to it. These are the only structures on the green itself. Around the green
are a dry-goods general store that also serves as post office, an historic
old church, the village elementary school, a grocery store, a restaurant,
the village fire department, a farm tractor dealer, an auto dealer, and
a few residences. Other residences are along the crossroads leading to
the town green. The largest business in the township is involved in sand,
stone, and gravel mining and concrete production.
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Around
this "green" the essential businesses and institutions to support the outlying
community were conveniently assembled. Nothing has altered this master
plan.
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Two attractions located
at Thompson bring visitors to the town. One of them is a racetrack known
as Thompson Raceway Park. This well-kept facility hosts exciting drag racing
meets each weekend through the April-October season.
The other is Thompson Ledges
State Park, where cliffs and outcroppings of ancient sandstone rocks have
been exposed by glacial scouring, creating an impressive scenic wonder.
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Although
the bandstand pictured here is a recent addition to the town square, it
fits perfectly with a place so central to life in the community. The village
is too small to support a regular series of summer music performances,
but the bandstand is used for community celebrations on major national
holidays, and a Christmas
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choral
performance is held each year in connection with the lighting of the town
tree erected beneath the bandstand canopy.
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