In 1843, Lewis Thompson founded a small business in Philadelphia to import mahogany because it was hard to obtain supplies for the burgeoning furniture-manufacturing business, which was centered in Philadelphia. Thompson began by importing mahogany logs from Mexico and Brazil. Later, to cut shipping costs, it built a sawmill on the Amazon, sawe the logs into lumber in Brazil and imported the lumber. Subsequentaly, Thompson expanded into the veneer business, with a mill in North Carolina.

Always innovative, Thompson has changed its business strategies so that it has endured wars, depressions, foreign political coups, and and protests from environmental groups. . For more than 150 years, the company has responded to changing times, weathering all economic conditions, including the Great Depression. Thompson’s exceptional ability to innovate has contributed to the company’s staying power: during the 1930s, for example, TMC supplied the wood for newly popular “cathedral” style radios. Today, the company has identified a number of similar opportunities for product innovation, especially for responsibly harvested hardwoods for outdoor decking and boardwalks.

Because it has so long been a landmark of Philadelphia industry, Thompson was featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer as one of Philadelphia’s historical businesses. Thompson Mahogany in 2001 (Philadelphia Inquirer March 5, 2001). Thompson has a long tradition of active membership in US and international trade organizations and it has been a leader in promoting ecologically and socially responsible tropical forestry. Thompson’s current president has served as president of the major tropical lumber trade association, and he spearheaded the sustainable forestry movement in the US, including funding university research on regeneration of South American forests,

Thompson has always been actively involved in trade associations like the Mahogany Manufacturers and Importers Association, for example to protect the industry against imitation mahogany products. The Mahogany Association issued certificates to manufacturers who could certify that their products were indeed made of genuine mahogany and not a substitute. In 1918, the then president, Lewis Thompson, was an officer of the Mahogany Association, when the United States government was negotiating the acquisition of all mahogany supplies for service or cobat airplane propellers.

The current president, Don Thompson, served as president of the International Wood Products Association, and has been heavily involved in the issue of sustainable forestry.

Thompson was a privately held business owned by the original Thompson family from its founding until 1976, when it was acquired by a public company. In 1985 it was taken private again when it was acquired by another Thompson - Donald Thompson ---- but one who is no relation to the original Thompson family. Don Thompson continues as president of TMC today.