Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1962 on and the census since 1880.
Addison dates its founding to 1834 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Addison’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Addison.
In 1834, three years before Michigan became a state, John Talbot settled along a winding creek in a vast forest, dotted with clear blue lakes and occupied by the Potawatomi. With the raising of a simple grist mill along Bean Creek around December 1835, Addison's history was started, operating under the settlement name “Manetue.”
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereJohn Randolph Bray is born here
Born hereNick Smith is born here
Born hereDavid P. Rawson is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyPassages that mention Addison, cut from the printed page as they were published.
years, when he purchased an interest in the Rollin carding and cloth dressing mill. He run this mill for two years, when wool advanced to a price that made the business unprofitable, and he finally sold out. He then leased the Rollin saw mill, of Addison J. Comstock, and run it four years. 1853 he purchased fiftyeight acres of timbered land of Addison J. Comstock, on the west side of the Rollin mill-pond, and since that time has purchased of Mr. Comstock until he now owns 160 acres. He has cleared over
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
in early days as the Bean Creek country, was not really commenced until 1833, although one man from Seneca county, N. Y., had entered in June, 1831, an eighty acre lot in what is now the township of Rollin, and Addison J. Comstock, of Adrian, in May, 1832, had entered another eighty acre lot in the same town. But neither of these locations had been settled on until after other lands had been entered in Hudson and Rollin, and some actual settlements commenced. The first house built in the Bean Creek valley, was in the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Addison. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Addison.
Between 291 and 655 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Addison’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
In 1834, according to Wikidata. Addison’s post office opened in 1838, and the census of 1880 counted 291 people here.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (7), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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