湯普金斯縣由卡尤加湖劃分，這是冰川形成的 Finger Lakes 中第二長的。 這個湖的核心深度為 435 英尺，其上水位於南端，由溪流通過底下的頁岩和石灰石所構成了縣地質基礎的溪谷供水。 今天的縣由 476 組成。1 平方英里；南端惡劣的地形，康涅狄格山達到 2, 095。97 腳。 北部分的地形更柔和，肥沃。
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鐵路發展將湯普金斯縣與從 1832 開始的市場和目的地與馬拉的伊薩卡-奧韋戈鐵路聯繫起來。 到 1870 秒，有四條主要鐵路線經過伊薩卡。 湖泊旅行開始於 1823，並繼續到二十世紀。
伊薩卡學院在 1892 的伊薩卡市中心建築開幕，首先是一所音樂學院，然後擴展到多個領域。 學院在 1969 搬到南山。 該縣的重要行業包括伊薩卡槍支公司、托馬斯-摩斯飛機公司和格羅頓鐵橋公司 —— 所有這些行業現在都已經消失了。 十年來，從 1914 開始，電影在伊薩卡製作。
Population growth in the twentieth century continued only slowly, although the university from 1885 increased yearly in size bringing faculty, hiring local staff, and drawing students in ever-growing numbers. In 1910 there were 33,647 residents in the county. The increase thereafter was slight until 1940 when the total population of Tompkins County was 42,340. In the next ten years the overall population jumped by more than 16,000 residents to 59,122, with the major gain occurring in Ithaca, reflecting the dramatic growth of Cornell University following the second World War. An additional jump by 10,000 residents between 1960 and 1970 brought the county population to 77,064. That decade’s figures reveal a shift in living patterns with a major increase in the Town of Ithaca, especially in the northeast portion and in the areas adjacent to Cornell.
By the 2000 federal census, the population of Tompkins County was 96,501. The ethnic composition of the county had also changed. There had been a major influx of Irish immigrants in the 1830s and ‘40s. Late in the nineteenth-century, Italians and some identified as Hungarians began to arrive. Early in the twentieth century newcomers included Italians, Hungarians, Greeks, and Finns. In 1900 there were two Chinese listed in the Federal Census. By 2000 the County housed a diversified Asian community along with Hispanics, Russians, and a small but significant contingent of Tibetans who founded a monastery, first on North Aurora Street and in 2008 along the Danby Road (route 96 south). The student population at Cornell is nearly twenty thousand.
The major business of the county is education, with Cornell, Ithaca College, the Tompkins Cortland Community College, and six public school systems plus several private schools and the Community School of Music and Art (CSMA). Agriculture continues to be important; there is an active Farmer’s Market featuring food grown in the area. Tompkins County also attracts tourists to its Discovery Trail of important museums: the Museum of the Earth, the Sciencenter, the Johnson Art Museum, the History Center. More than sixty cultural organizations, including historical societies, drama companies, musical groups of all kinds, dance companies and an orchestra and opera society flourish. There is a stunning cycle of events each year that include the Ithaca Festival, which occurs the first weekend of June, the Grassroots Festival each summer, Light in Winter each January, and an Art Trail open all year long with featured weekend events in the spring and fall.
縣機場附近有一個主要商業綜合體。 該縣的 80 多家公司在這裡出現，因為他們的創始人在大學學習或教授。
傳統上，這個縣位於伊薩卡市以外的縣投票為共和黨人。 隨著 1950 之後的人口增加，民主核心增加了，在 1993，縣委員會首次獲得民主多數。
該縣每天由《伊薩卡雜誌》開始於 1814、[康奈爾] 每日日報 [1880] 和每週新聞出版《伊薩卡時報》提供服務。
該縣的歷史首次在紐約州赫爾德（費城，1879），切蒙歷史，舒勒縣，蒂奧加和湯普金斯縣（費城，）以及湯普金斯縣地標約翰·塞爾克雷格（錫拉丘茲，1894）。 霍拉斯·金在 1847 中寫了一篇關於伊薩卡的論文，H.C. 古德溫在 1853 中發表了伊薩卡的原樣，以及伊薩卡如現在，亨利·阿布特在 1926 發表了伊薩卡。 最近的治療包括卡羅爾·卡門，湯普金斯縣的人民：社會歷史（因特拉肯，1985）和簡 ·M· 迪克曼，湯普金斯縣的簡史（伊薩卡，1986）。 還有用的是《湯普金斯縣地名的起源》（伊薩卡，1951）或湯普金斯縣的地名稱的更新的《湯普金斯縣的地名》，由湯普金斯縣城市歷史學家發表在 2003 上發布。 還有《湯普金斯縣城鎮》，編輯了簡 ·M· 迪克曼（伊薩卡，1998）。 另請參閱《湯普金斯縣的建築遺產》，其中包含理查德·科思的照片，發表於 2002。