Explore Thompson, Iowa, with this interactive street and satellite map.
| City | Thompson |
| State | Iowa (IA) |
| County | Winnebago County |
| Country | United States of America |
| Timezone | Central Time (America/Chicago) |
| Latitude | 43.371344 |
| Longitude | -93.773556 |
| Population | 495 |
| Density | 223.0 /km² |
| Incorporated | Yes |
| ZIP Code | 50478 |
| Area Code | 515 |
| County Seat | Forest City |
| School District | North Iowa Community School District |
Thompson occupies a vast, level expanse of the northern Iowa prairie, where the horizon stretches wide and unobstructed under a sky that shifts from pale morning violet to a heavy, bruised amber by evening. It lies 32.5 miles west-northwest of Mason City, IA (from Mason City, IA: bearing 298°T), and is situated 10.2 miles northwest of Forest City. The land is defined by the rigorous geometry of agriculture, where field lines carve the earth into a quilt of deep green corn and drying soybean stalks that ripple like water when the wind catches them. A mile from the center, the quiet flow of Pike Run marks the landscape, while the Thompson Roadside Prairie preserves a remnant of the tallgrass that once dominated this entire region. Further out, the surface rises slightly toward the distant silhouette of Pilot Knob, a reminder of the glacial shifts that leveled the surrounding plains, while the waters of Harmon Lake sit silently to the west, reflecting the slow passage of clouds.
Thompson grew from the steady, persistent labor of families who carved their livelihoods out of the black, fertile soil, leaving behind a legacy of pragmatic, understated resilience. The economy remains anchored to the rhythms of the harvest, a cycle that dictates the pace of life from the early spring planting to the frantic, dusty activity of autumn. While the modern world moves with a different velocity, the people here maintain a quiet, literate civility, often finding their recreation in the expansive outdoors or traversing the local landscape toward the Winnebago River Trail. There is a distinct patience in the way the day concludes here, as the machinery is parked and the long shadows of the grain elevators stretch across the streets, grounding Thompson in a long-standing tradition of hard work and quiet, unshowy endurance.
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This page provides an embedded street and satellite map of Thompson, Iowa. Coordinates: 43.371344, -93.773556. Live weather conditions are sourced directly from the National Weather Service. Real-time local and world news feeds keep the page current.
Detailed location data for Thompson includes the ZIP code (50478), telephone area code (515), county seat of Winnebago County (Forest City), and school district assignment (North Iowa Community School District).
Location data is drawn from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) and cross-verified against 2020 US Census records by coordinate proximity. Population figures are sourced from the 2020 US Census.
| Page generated | August 2026 |
| Location data | SimpleMaps US Cities Database; coordinates matched to USGS GNIS definitive data |
| Wikipedia validation | Article content matched to USGS GNIS coordinates via Wikipedia geosearch API. |