Thomaston

The town includes a small downtown which boast a bank, feed store, thrift shop, two gas stations, and a Rural Studio designed and built Farmers Market. Plans are currently underway to create a co-op grocery store directly adjacent to the market.

The Thomaston and Marengo County area is marked by the social ills of decline educational attainment ranks among the lowest in the state with barely 40% achieving a high school diploma.  Experts say the region is caught in a vicious cycle of low esteem, low expectations, and low performance.  The 2000 census shows a population decline of 2.4% the region ejects youth with promise and provides no alternatives for the remaining.  Thomaston is a tiny, rural community that consists of a two-block area of run down dilapidated buildings, a boarded-up old school, one convenience gas store, one bank, city hall, and the post office.  The situation certainly appears very bleak.

            Poverty, unemployed, underserved, and economic decline mark the Thomaston Area.  The following indicators clearly represent the serious plight prevalent in the town and country. 

• Unemployed rate is twice the state rate and almost triple the national rate.
• The population of Thomaston reflects a decline while the state reflects an increase.
• The area has a population of 50% African Americans and other minorities.
• The median household income is over $4,000/per year less than the state and 19% less than national average.
• Of the population 21.3% do not have a high school education, 19% have high school diploma only, and thus 40% have high school diploma or less.
• Over 46.6% of the population of the Town of Thomaston lives below the poverty level.
• The per capita income for Thomaston is $9,217 or 61.2% of county, and 54.4% of state.
• Only 57.1% of high school student graduate on time with a dropout rate of 12.6%.