Constructed in 1889, Thompsonville Junction was a diamond crossing where the Chicago and Western Michigan Railroad, eventually the Chesapeake and Ohio, intersected with the Frankfort and Southeastern Railroad, later the Ann Arbor, just south of Thompson Avenue on what became part of the Betsie Valley Trail. Both railroads had depots there, linking Frankfort to Toledo and the Traverse City area to Chicago and providing passenger and freight service. In the summer of 1903, the Ann Arbor operated a "ping-pong" train that carried travelers from Thompsonville to Frankfort's resorts every few hours. All railroad service to Thompsonville had ended by the 1980s, and the diamond crossing was moved after the tracks were dismantled. A village began growing around the railroad junction in 1890. Originally called Lyndonville, it was renamed Thompsonville for S.S. Thompson, president of the Frankfort and Southeastern Railroad. Sawmills were the first community businesses, and Thompsonville incorporated as a village in 1892. By 1896, it had established an electrical plant that provided light and power for residents. In 1901 the village called itself "The Biggest Little Town in Michigan." Although its population was less than one thousand, it had forty-eight businesses and two churches, and thousands attended the annual village street fair in the early twentieth century. Thompsonville's population began to decline by 1910 and continued declining as rail service decreased.