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Welcome to Thompson Falls ...

The city of Thompson Falls is located in Sanders County<1> and is the County Seat for Sanders County.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Thompson Falls, you might consider that their post office opened in 1912.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Thompson Falls has a population of 1,408 people<2> (see below for details).

Thompson Falls is 2,640 feet [805 m] above sea level.<3> In other words, the altitude of Thompson Falls is ½ mile above sea level.

Time Zone: Thompson Falls lies in the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT) and observes daylight saving time

Note: If you travel west from Thompson Falls (for example, toward Osburn (ID)), you will leave Mountain Time and cross into the Pacific Time Zone (PST/PDT).

Area Code for Thompson Falls: 406

The ZIP code for Thompson Falls: 59873<4>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Thompson Falls had an population of 1,408 people. This is an increase of 7.24% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 6.59% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Thompson Falls had a population of 1,313 people (or 11.52% of the total population of Sanders County). This makes Thompson Falls the county's most populous community.

The population of Thompson Falls represents 0.13% of the total population of Montana (which has 989,415 people), making it the state's 47th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 1,313 people, the population of Thompson Falls has remained roughly the same as the 2000 Census (which had a count of 1,321 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Thompson Falls.

Communities near Thompson Falls ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Thompson Falls.

  • Eddy
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Eddy is located in Sanders County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eddy
  • De Borgia
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Haugan
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Saltese
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Cabin City
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Cabin City is located in Mineral County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cabin City
  • East Portal ‑ Historic
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • East Portal is located in Mineral County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Portal
  • Larson
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Larson is located in Shoshone County (ID)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larson
  • Trout Creek
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Burke ‑ Historic
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Burke is located in Shoshone County (ID)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burke
  • Mullan
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Mullan is located in Shoshone County (ID)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mullan
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 691 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mullan <5>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Thompson Falls. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Thompson Falls.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Thompson Falls. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Thompson Falls.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Thompson Falls. Our list includes 4 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Thompson Falls.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Thompson Falls ...

Looking for more information about Thompson Falls? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Thompson Falls, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Thompson Falls.

Adding Thompson Falls to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Thompson Falls in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Thompson Falls was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the Thompson Falls post office opened in 1912.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Thompson Falls.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Montana's counties, including Sanders, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Thompson Falls.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Thompson Falls - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Thompson Falls). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Thompson Falls or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<5>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<6>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/