History · Addison

Addison dates to 1839

More historic than 35% of U.S. towns · #510 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Most of Addison was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1928 on, and the census since 1890.

1839founded

0on the National Register

2%homes built before 1940

3old photos & papers

6famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Addison’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Addison began

When was Addison founded?

1839

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

First census: 485 in 18902020 census: 35,702187 years

How historic is Addison?

More historic than 35% 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’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Addison is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #510 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Addison’s overall grade.

Founding era1839, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA⁻Homes built before 19402.3% of homes (±1.2) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%C⁻National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 35%

NewerOlder

Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 34%

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’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share (±1.2 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’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 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsEstablished in 1839: 187 years of Addison.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Addison’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewOrphan Home Festival Day trains: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Timeline

Addison, 1839 to 2004

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

19th century
1839
FoundingAddison is established
1842Post officeThe Addison post office opens
1892In the archiveOrphan Home Festival Day trains
1897Post officeThe Swift post office opens
20th century
1900In the archiveAddison postcard
1912Post officeThe Swift post office closes
1928On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1976Born hereKyle Kinane is born here
1991Born hereAlexa Knierim is born here
21st century
2004Born hereGabriel Slonina is born here

The story

How Addison came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Addison.

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, 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

1892Orphan Home Festival Day trains

c. 1900Addison postcardPostcard

c. 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

On the map

Addison on the map, 1928 to 1993

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

1928Elmhurst sheet · 1:24,000

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

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.

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’s page.

Retake this view · +15

People over time

Addison, census by census

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’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

6 famous people were born in Addison

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Gabriel SloninaAmerican soccer player · b. 2004

Alexa KnierimAmerican pair skater · b. 1991

Kyle KinaneAmerican comedian · b. 1976

Roger JenischAmerican politician

Ronald VitielloActing Director of ICE · b. 1963

Tim EhrhardtAmerican track and field athlete · b. 1995

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Addison’s post office has been open since 1842. Another post office, Swift, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Addison

1842–today

Swift

1897–1912

18401930today

Hamlets and corners on the map

Swift

Gone or out of use

Driscoll SchoolschoolElmhurst Country ClublocaleMitchell Fieldairport

1cemetery inside Addison

Saint Pauls Addison

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). 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.

Lombard2 historic placesC⁺Bloomingdale2 historic placesB⁻Villa Park2 historic placesB⁻Wood DaleIts storyC⁻Elmhurst6 historic placesB Glendale HeightsIts storyD⁻

Questions about Addison’s history

What year was Addison founded?

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

How does Addison rank for history?

Addison is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #510 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.

How old are the homes in Addison?

2% of Addison’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1972.

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 (24), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) 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.

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