Tucked along the Trans-Canada Highway between the Town of Maple Creek and the City of Swift Current, Tompkins sits within the Rural Municipality of Gull Lake No. 139 in Census Division No. 8 of Saskatchewan. The village takes its name from Thomas Tompkins, a contractor who worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway during the development of the region. Tompkins formally incorporated as a village on June 2, 1910, marking the beginning of its long history as a small but established prairie community.
As of the 2021 Census, 153 residents called Tompkins home, occupying 84 of the village’s 99 private dwellings. This represents a modest increase of 0.7% from the 2016 figure of 152 people, though the village had seen a more notable decline between 2011 and 2016, when the population dropped from 170 to 152. The village covers a land area of 2.68 square kilometres, giving it a population density of roughly 57 people per square kilometre. Tompkins supports several small local businesses that serve the everyday needs of its residents. The village is also known for its connection to the late Gus Wickstrom, a locally celebrated figure who gained international attention for his method of predicting weather patterns by examining raw pig spleens – a tradition rooted in his Scandinavian heritage. Wickstrom was featured on programmes including the Daily Show and various Canadian and American television and radio broadcasts before his passing in 2007. The popular Canadian sitcom Corner Gas paid tribute to both Wickstrom and the village by naming a recurring unseen character Gus Tompkins.