Local events in Thompson Township, Geauga County
21 events in the next 90 days from 1 public calendar. All local events in Thompson Township, Geauga County
Checked October 20; the events page is refreshed daily.
How Thompson Township, Geauga County began
Thompson Township, in northeastern Geauga County, was settled in 1800 by Dr. Isaac Palmer, whose neighbors judged him a churlish man, ill-suited to close company; joined the following decade by families from Massachusetts and Connecticut clustered around "the Ledge," a dramatic rock outcrop still a local landmark. It has no National Register-listed site of its own; a cluster of historic vernacular houses and a cheese-vat factory that share its ZIP code actually sit in Madison Township, Lake County. Aluminum-process inventor and Alcoa founder Charles Martin Hall was a native of the township. Thompson is a small rural township with 2,158 residents in 2020.
Settled 1800 (Dr. Isaac Palmer, per the 1879 county history); Wikipedia dates the township's establishment in the Northwest Territory to 1801, incorporated 1817 (declared a civil township by the county commissioners; first election held April 7, 1817), by Dr. Isaac Palmer, first settler; Joseph Bartlett (1808) and Seth Hurlbut (1809) among the first families to stay.
Where the name comes from
The 1879 county history reports the township was "named for some to me unknown man" by the county commissioners -- even its own chronicler could not identify the namesake, and no later source consulted resolves it.
Before the town
No Native American village, trail, or site specific to Thompson Township is documented in the sources consulted.
Timeline
- — Dr. Isaac Palmer of Connecticut becomes Thompson Township's first settler, building a cabin on lot eleven in the southwest part.
- — Joseph Bartlett, of Southampton, Massachusetts, arrives in June and makes the township's first lasting settlement on lot four, having freighted his goods by ox-team and small boat via Buffalo and Lake Erie.
- — Seth Hurlbut and his family arrive from Northampton, Massachusetts; his death in 1813 leads to the township's first burying-ground, later left to decay and overgrowth.
- — Miss Lurena Hurlbut teaches Thompson's first school, in the double log house of Seth Hurlbut.
- — Thompson holds its first township election on April 7; Seth Hurlbut is chosen clerk and Mark Barnes is elected the township's first justice of the peace.
- — The first church organization, a Presbyterian congregation of eight members, is formed on November 19 by Rev. Jonathan Leslie of Harpersfield.
- — Charles Martin Hall, later the inventor of the modern aluminum-smelting process and founder of Alcoa, is born in Thompson Township.
- — A two-story wooden town hall is built in the centre of the public square at a cost of twenty-five hundred dollars.
- — Levi Olds establishes the Union cheese-factory at Bostwick's Corners, working the milk of 125 cows its first season.
- — U.S. Census records 2,158 residents in Thompson Township.
Stories
The Ledge
North of the township's centre the land breaks away in a rugged, cliff-like formation the 1879 county history calls simply "the Ledge": a wall of conglomerate pebbly sandstone riddled with caverns, fissures, and springs, which the chronicler likened to an ancient sea-wall beaten by waves for countless ages. The rock furnished excellent building stone, and several quarries were opened along it. Even in the township's early decades, the Ledge's dramatic outlook drew picnics, excursions, and public gatherings, making it one of the few striking natural features in an otherwise gently rolling county.
The mystery of Myers' five-franc pieces
In 1840 or 1841, at South Thompson, a theft became a local sensation: a thousand dollars in five-franc pieces was carried out of the house of a man named Myers, and the Fisher family and a younger man named Selby were prosecuted for the theft. After a year or two, the prosecuting attorney came to suspect Myers' own wife of complicity and dropped the case; the accused then sued Myers for malicious prosecution and won a verdict at trial. The fate of the stolen coin itself was never resolved, and the affair, which made "a great noise" at the time, remained a public mystery.
Local history sources: archive.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org
Water
Mostly private wells The water here
- Lake County East Water Subdistrict82% of residentsLake Erie
- Ashtabula County Water System11% of residentsLake Erie
- Rustic Pines Mhc7% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
Hospitals, fire stations and more
Inside Thompson Township, Geauga County's boundary: 1 fire or EMS station, 1 library, 1 police station, 1 Superfund site and 5 spill cases. Press a pin or a name for its whole record and its source.
Fire and EMS stations (1)
-
Thompson Fire and RescueThompson
- Address
- 6778 Madison Road, Thompson, OH 44086
- Coordinates
- 41.68842, -81.05165
USGS National Map structures (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: USGS National Map structures (most Ohio records last updated 2019 to 2022), checked against the Columbus and Cleveland station lists. The department that answers a call is set by jurisdiction and mutual aid, not by distance.
Public libraries (1)
-
Thompson BranchBranch · Thompson
- Address
- 6645 Madison Road, Thompson, OH 44086
- What it is
- Branch
- Library system
- Geauga County Public Library
- Open
- 3,536 hours a year, 52 weeks
- Building
- 8,596 sq ft
- System's visits, FY2024
- 620,568
- System's loans, FY2024
- 3,017,332
- People the system serves
- 85,791
- Phone
- (440) 298-3831
IMLS Public Libraries Survey (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: IMLS Public Libraries Survey FY2024 (outlets and their systems). Any Ohio resident can get a free card at any Ohio public library.
Police stations (1)
-
Thompson Police DepartmentThompson
- Address
- 6784 Madison Road, Thompson, OH 44086
- Coordinates
- 41.68842, -81.05127
USGS National Map structures (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: USGS National Map structures, police stations, corrected and completed by hand (September 2026). The department that answers a call is set by jurisdiction, not by distance.
Superfund sites (1)
-
Thompson GroundwaterSuperfund program · Thompson
- Address
- 6708 Madison Rd., Thompson, OH 44086
- County
- Geauga County
- Status
- Superfund program site, not on the National Priorities List
- EPA program ID
- OHN000510051
- EPA registry ID
- 110023128685
EPA facility record ↗ EPA Facility Registry Service (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: EPA Facility Registry Service, Superfund (SEMS) and National Priorities List sites. Many program sites were assessed and needed no cleanup.
Spills reported since 2021 (5)
-
Sewage Sludge / Biosolids2023-07-15 · Thompson Twp
- Reported
- 2023-07-15
- What spilled
- Sewage Sludge / Biosolids
- Where
- Thompson Twp, Geauga County
- Ohio EPA district office
- NEDO
- Ohio EPA case number
- 2307EPA0001192
Ohio EPA spill reports (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
Fuel Jet / Kerosene (All)2021-07-10 · Madison Twp
- Reported
- 2021-07-10
- What spilled
- Fuel Jet / Kerosene (All)
- Where
- Madison Twp, Lake County
- Ohio EPA district office
- ESW
- Ohio EPA case number
- 2107EPA0001025
Ohio EPA spill reports (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
Sheen Rainbow / Hydrocarbon Reached water2021-01-15 · Thompson Twp
- Reported
- 2021-01-15
- What spilled
- Sheen Rainbow / Hydrocarbon
- Reached a waterway
- 99 - Unnamed
- Where
- Thompson Twp, Geauga County
- Ohio EPA district office
- NEDO
- Ohio EPA case number
- 2101EPA0000054
Ohio EPA spill reports (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
Material Unknown2026-08-26 · Thompson Twp
- Reported
- 2026-08-26
- What spilled
- Material Unknown
- Where
- Thompson Twp, Geauga County
- Ohio EPA district office
- NEDO
- Ohio EPA case number
- 2608EPA0001605
Ohio EPA spill reports (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
Isocyanates Reached water2026-08-02 · Thompson Twp
- Reported
- 2026-08-02
- What spilled
- Isocyanates
- Largest amount reported
- 1 gallons
- Reached a waterway
- 99 - Unnamed
- Where
- Thompson Twp, Geauga County
- Ohio EPA district office
- NEDO
- Ohio EPA case number
- 2608EPA0001410
Ohio EPA spill reports (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: Ohio EPA emergency response spill reports, 2021 to September 2026, one point per case where Ohio EPA placed it. A report is what the caller or responder recorded; amounts are often blank or estimated.
Its ZIP codes
Each ZIP code that touches Thompson Township, Geauga County, with the share of its residents who live here and the same headline figures as the ZIP page.
| ZIP | Share | Water | Radon | Home value | Schools | Flood |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 44086 Thompson Township and Thompson | 80% | Mostly private wells | 2.6 pCi/L average radon | Median year built 1977 | Berkshire Local · 4 stars overall | 0.0% of residents in the 1% floodplain |
| 44057 Madison Township and Madison | 1% | Lake Erie, drawn through a 48-inch pipe extending about 4,000 feet offshore from the Painesville Township plant | 3.4 pCi/L average radon | Median year built 1970 | Madison Local · 3.5 stars overall | 2.3% of residents in the 1% floodplain |
Local government
Who holds office in Thompson Township, Geauga County, how its elections and ballot issues came out, and the state auditor's record.
Money issues on the ballot since 2022: 2 of 3 passed; of those asking for new or higher taxes, 1 of 2.
Ballot issues
| Date | Issue | For | Against | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-11-05 | Issue: Renewal Thompson Township 1.75 mills - Fire and EMS (1.75 mills, renewal) | 773 | 441 | Passed (63.67% for), unofficial |
| 2023-05-02 | Issue: Additional 2.5 mills - 5 years - Fire and EMS (2.5 mills, additional) | 101 | 101 | Failed (50.0% for) |
| 2022-11-08 | Issue: 1 mill Replacement - Streets, Roads and Bridges (1.0 mills, replacement) | 610 | 334 | Passed (64.62% for) |
Elections for office
| Date | Office | Candidates and votes |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-03-19 | Member of County Central Committee (DEM primary) | Karen E. Kne (DEM) 29, 100.0% |
Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked.
Auditor of State record
- No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
- Agreed Upon Procedures, 2024 to 2025, released 2026-06-23
- Agreed Upon Procedures, 2022 to 2023, released 2024-07-16
The county
Geauga County: 11 ZIP codes, 20 cities, villages and townships, 89,999 people.
Nearby places
Quick answers
What county is Thompson Township, Ohio in?
Thompson Township, Geauga County is a township in Geauga County, Ohio, with 2,158 residents.
When was Thompson Township, Ohio founded?
Thompson Township, Geauga County was settled 1800 (Dr. Isaac Palmer, per the 1879 county history); Wikipedia dates the township's establishment in the Northwest Territory to 1801; incorporated 1817 (declared a civil township by the county commissioners; first election held April 7, 1817). Founders on record: Dr. Isaac Palmer, first settler; Joseph Bartlett (1808) and Seth Hurlbut (1809) among the first families to stay. Source
How did Thompson Township, Ohio get its name?
The 1879 county history reports the township was "named for some to me unknown man" by the county commissioners -- even its own chronicler could not identify the namesake, and no later source consulted resolves it. Source
What ZIP code is Thompson Township, Ohio?
Most of Thompson Township, Geauga County is in ZIP code 44086.
Where does Thompson Township, Ohio get its water?
The main water source for Thompson Township, Geauga County (Lake County East Water Subdistrict): Mostly private wells.
Cite this page
Cite this page as:
Cracked Buckeye, "Thompson Township, Geauga County", https://crackedbuckeye.com/place/thompson-township-geauga-county/, built 2026-10-31, accessed [date].
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