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BHistory
History · Addison Township

Addison Township dates to 1839, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 58% of U.S. towns · #343 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Most of Addison Township was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. Its Register listing is the Churchville School. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1890.

1839founded
1on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Addison Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Addison Township began

When was Addison Township founded?

1839

Addison Township dates its founding to 1839 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1890.

First census: 485 in 18902020 census: 88,351187 years

How historic is Addison Township?

B

More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1842.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Addison Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Addison Township is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #343 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Addison Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1839, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19404.7% of homes (±1.0) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 0.2 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 58%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 55%

Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Addison Township’s 0.2 sits near the middle of its state (58% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1839.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Addison Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18918 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1993. Watch Addison Township change.Deep rootsEstablished in 1839: 187 years of Addison Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Addison Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Addison Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewOrphan Home Festival Day trains: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Addison Township on the map, 1891 to 1993

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Addison Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Addison Township on the 1891 USGS mapAddison Township on the 1900 USGS mapAddison Township on the 1928 USGS mapAddison Township on the 1953 USGS mapAddison Township on the 1963 USGS mapAddison Township on the 1972 USGS mapAddison Township on the 1981 USGS mapAddison Township on the 1993 USGS map1891Riverside sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Addison Township.

Timeline

Addison Township, 1839 to 1900

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1839
    FoundingAddison Township is established
  3. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1892In the archiveOrphan Home Festival Day trains
  5. 20th century
  6. 1900In the archiveAddison postcard
The story

How Addison Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Addison Township.

Read it all →

The village was incorporated in 1884, at which time it had a population of 400. The community itself was originally named Dunkley's Grove after the settler Hezekiah Dunklee, and was renamed after a town in England or Addison, New York. In 1832, Winfield Scott built Army Trail Road on top of a Potawatomi trail in Addison, in order to allow 50 broad-tired wagons to fight Black Hawk and his warriors. In 1864, the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod moved its teacher training to the village from Fort Wayne, Indiana, and established the Addison Teachers Seminary; it remained in Addison until 1913, when it was relocated to River Forest, Illinois, as Concordia Teachers College (now Concordia University Chicago). The town was also home to the Kinderheim home for children, which made up more than half its population prior to suburbanization.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Addison Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s–1900s3 items
Orphan Home Festival Day trains1892Orphan Home Festival Day trainsAddison postcardc. 1900Addison postcardPostcardIllinois Central steam engine atc. 1900Illinois Central steam engine at
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Date unknown1 to date
Heideman Windmill, Route 5Date?Heideman Windmill, Route 5
Today30 recent
Tamara Heights Park in Addison, Illinois, US, in April 2025 022025Tamara Heights Park in Addison, Illinois, US, in Apri…Tamara Heights Park in Addison, Illinois, US, in April 2025 012025Tamara Heights Park in Addison, Illinois, US, in Apri…Highview Park in Addison, Illinois, US 022025Highview Park in Addison, Illinois, US 02Highview Park in Addison, Illinois, US 012025Highview Park in Addison, Illinois, US 01Green Meadow Park in Addison, Illinois, US 032025Green Meadow Park in Addison, Illinois, US 03Green Meadow Park in Addison, Illinois, US 022025Green Meadow Park in Addison, Illinois, US 02Green Meadow Park in Addison, Illinois, US 012025Green Meadow Park in Addison, Illinois, US 01Flagpole base at Westview Park in2025Flagpole base at Westview Park inCricket Creek Forest Preserve in2025Cricket Creek Forest Preserve inCricket Creek Forest Preserve North Area in Addison, Illinois, US 22025Cricket Creek Forest Preserve North Area in Addison, …Cricket Creek Forest Preserve North Area in Addison, Illinois, US 12025Cricket Creek Forest Preserve North Area in Addison, …Byron Park in Addison, Illinois, US, April 2025 32025Byron Park in Addison, Illinois, US, April 2025 3Byron Park in Addison, Illinois, US, April 2025 22025Byron Park in Addison, Illinois, US, April 2025 2Byron Park in Addison, Illinois, US, April 2025 12025Byron Park in Addison, Illinois, US, April 2025 1Addison Trail High School2023Addison Trail High SchoolAddison Trail High School Mascot2017Addison Trail High School MascotAddison Trail2016Addison TrailAddison, Illinois Water Tower2014Addison, Illinois Water TowerZayre, Addison, IL 42009Zayre, Addison, IL 4Zayre, Addison, IL 32009Zayre, Addison, IL 3Zayre, Addison, IL 22009Zayre, Addison, IL 2Zayre, Addison, IL 12009Zayre, Addison, IL 1Zayre gas station in2009Zayre gas station inWalmart (Addison, Illinois) 12009Walmart (Addison, Illinois) 1Sam's Club (Addison, Illinois) 12009Sam's Club (Addison, Illinois) 1Blockbuster Video, Addison Illinois, April 20092009Blockbuster Video, Addison Illinois, April 2009Addison2009AddisonHampton Inn & Suites Addison (DuPage County, IL)2008Hampton Inn & Suites Addison (DuPage County, IL)View from East Lake St2005View from East Lake StAddison Village Hall2005Addison Village Hall
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Orphan Home Festival Day trains
Retake this viewOrphan Home Festival Day trains, 1892

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Addison Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Addison Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1999
Churchville School
Churchville School
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Churchville SchoolGreek Revival

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Addison Township, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 36,942

Between 485 and 36,942 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Addison Township’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Churchville
1cemetery inside Addison Township
Churchville

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

York Township13 historic placesB+Bloomingdale Township2 historic placesB−Chicago407 historic placesA+BensenvilleIts storyC−Villa Park2 historic placesB−Elk Grove VillageIts storyDElk Grove Township1 historic placeB−ItascaIts storyC+Leyden Township1 historic placeB−

Questions about Addison Township’s history

What year was Addison Township founded?

In 1839, according to Wikidata. Addison Township’s post office opened in 1842, and the census of 1890 counted 485 people here.

How does Addison Township rank for history?

Addison Township is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #343 of 768 in Illinois. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Addison Township?

One place: the Churchville School (listed 1999).

How old are the homes in Addison Township?

5% of Addison Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1971.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (33), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.