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CHistory
History · Addison

Addison dates to 1846

More historic than 28% of U.S. towns · #262 of 642 in Texas. What drives it

Most of Addison was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1998. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1931 on, and the census since 1960.

1846founded
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Addison’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Addison began

When was Addison founded?

1846

Addison dates its founding to 1846 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1960.

First census: 308 in 19602020 census: 16,661180 years

How historic is Addison?

C

More historic than 28% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1904.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 28% of U.S. towns, #262 of 642 in Texas. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Addison’s overall grade.
Founding era1846, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19400.0% of homes (±0.2) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%D−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical TX town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 28%
NewerOlder
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 59%

Few Texas towns list much on the Register (a typical Texas town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Addison’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (34% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1846.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share (±0.2 points) is firm at this size.

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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsEstablished in 1846: 180 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 viewFire Aftermath: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Addison, 1846 to 1987

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1846
    FoundingAddison is established
  3. 20th century
  4. 1904Post officeThe Addison post office opens
  5. 1931On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1987In the archiveFire Aftermath
The story

How Addison came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Addison.

Read it all →

Addison was originally part of Peter's Colony. The future town site was settled as early as 1846 when Preston Witt built a house near White Rock Creek. In 1849, the Witt family opened a gristmill. In 1880, settler Sidney Smith Noell purchased a large tract of land south of what is now Belt Line Road. In 1888, Noell, together with W.W. Julian and W. E. Horten, donated land to the St. Louis, Arkansas and Texas Railway, a predecessor of the St. Louis Southwestern Railway (known as the Cotton Belt), for a coaling station.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Addison, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s1 item
Fire Aftermath1987Fire Aftermath
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
Today11 recent
Addison Circle road sign2009Addison Circle road signAddison Circle fountains2009Addison Circle fountainsAddison airport tunnel2008Addison airport tunnelAddison Texas skyline2008Addison Texas skylineAddison Skyline2008Addison SkylineTeksańska wiewiórka. Texan squirrel2007Teksańska wiewiórka. Texan squirrelSopwith Camel2007Sopwith CamelPlatinum Corridor - Arapaho Road2007Platinum Corridor - Arapaho RoadBikes by Duke's2007Bikes by Duke'sThe Extreme Pita2005The Extreme PitaTXMap-doton-Addison2004TXMap-doton-Addison
On the map

Addison on the map, 1931 to 1981

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

Addison on the 1931 USGS mapAddison on the 1959 USGS mapAddison on the 1968 USGS mapAddison on the 1973 USGS mapAddison on the 1981 USGS map1931Carrollton 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.

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.

Fire Aftermath
Retake this viewFire Aftermath, 1987

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

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,00018,000196019802000202016,661

Grew from 308 people in 1960 to 16,661 in 2020, more than tenfold.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Dallas125 historic placesA−CarrolltonIts storyDFarmers Branch1 historic placeB−

Questions about Addison’s history

What year was Addison founded?

In 1846, according to Wikidata. Addison’s post office opened in 1904, and the census of 1960 counted 308 people here.

How does Addison rank for history?

Addison is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #262 of 642 in Texas. 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?

0.0% of Addison’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1998.

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 (12), Wikipedia, 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.