James Thompson (surveyor)

James Thompson
Thompson in the 1860s
Probate Judge of Randolph County, Illinois
In office 1831–1848
Preceded by	Hunt[1]
Succeeded by	John Campbell (as County Judge)
Member of the Randolph County, Illinois Board of Commissioners
In office 1820–1821 Serving with David Anderson and Niles Hotchkiss
Personal details
Born	1789 Abbeville, South Carolina, U.S.
Died	October 6, 1872(1872-10-06) (aged 82–83) Randolph County, Illinois, U.S.
Profession	Surveyor

James Thompson (1789 – October 6, 1872) was an American surveyor who created the first plat of Chicago. Born in South Carolina, Thompson moved to Kaskaskia in southern Illinois as a young man and lived in the area for the rest of his life, working primarily as a surveyor. He was hired to plat settlements at the ends of the proposed Illinois and Michigan Canal in northern Illinois; he completed the plat of Chicago, the settlement at the eastern end, on August 4, 1830. After completing his survey of Chicago he returned to the Kaskaskia area and declined an offer of land in Chicago in favor of a cash payment. In addition to his surveying work, he served in various positions such as probate judge, county commissioner, and officer in the Illinois militia during the Black Hawk War.

Chicago appears on maps from the 17th century and had been inhabited by non-indigenous people since the late 18th century. Thompson's plat fixed the location associated with the word "Chicago", which had previously been used for various places around the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, and allowed the residents of the area to obtain legal title to their property. Extensions of Thompson's plat were made in the following years as Chicago experienced rapid expansion. Chicago incorporated as a town in 1833 and as a city in 1837 as growth continued, and by 1890 had more than a million inhabitants and was the second-most-populous city in the United States. Thompson has been commemorated several times in Chicago's history; his grave, which was originally unmarked, was given a monument by the city of Chicago in 1917.