Thompsons, TX

Thompsons is a Fort Bend County town with 156 people at the 2020 census, within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. It sits 12 miles southeast of Richmond on Farm Road 2759 and the old Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe rail line. Settlement began around 1830, when Robert E. Bohannon received a land grant; after his death, his widow married Hiram Thompson, who gave the community its name. The railroad made Thompsons a station in 1879, and the post office followed in 1888.

The town incorporated in 1979, after a much older rural story of cotton gins, stores, churches, and schools. Today the western side includes the W.A. Parish Electric Generating Station and Smithers Lake, giving Thompsons an industrial landmark alongside its historic rail corridor. The town's history page also records Thompsons as a filming location for Hope, released in 1997, and The Con, released in 1998. Students are zoned to Lamar Consolidated Independent School District, including George Ranch High School. Thompsons is a tiny municipality with a surprisingly layered map: land grant, rail stop, post office, power station, and movie set.