The story
Read it all →How Addison came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Addison.
Addison was chartered on October 14, 1761. Benning Wentworth named the town Addison after poet Joseph Addison.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
AHistory
History · Addison
Addison dates to 1761, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 88% of U.S. towns. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1945 on, and the census since 1790.
1761founded
4on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Quick answers
How Addison began
When was Addison founded?
1761
Addison dates its founding to 1761 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
First census: 401 in 17902020 census: 1,365265 years
How historic is Addison?
A
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 88% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1798.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 88% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Addison’s overall grade.
Founding era1761, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194022.7% of homes (±6.1) · typical VT town 22.4% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register4 listings, 34.0 per 10,000 residents · typical VT town 147 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 88%
NewerOlder
Vermont towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Vermont town has 147 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Addison’s 34.0 sits near the middle of its state (43% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.1 points). Two sources give 1761.
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.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1830 and 1940, then more than doubled.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Addison, and 4 old place names are still on the map.Older than the countryEstablished in 1761, 15 years before the Declaration of Independence.
★ 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.People over time
Addison, census by census
Lost half of its people between 1830 and 1940, then more than doubled.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Addison’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Addison had its own post office from 1798 to 1902. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Addison
Chimney Point
West Addison
17901910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Chimney PointGoodrich CornerWest AddisonWillow Point
Gone or out of use
Yankee Kingdom Airportairport
10cemeteries and burying grounds inside Addison
Advent - SmithCongregationalEatonGrandviewHanks YardHindesLakeviewNortonPayneSouthard
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From the old history books
What they wrote about Addison, 1859–1886
Passages that mention Addison, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of the town of Middlebury, in the country of Addison, Vermont1859 · page 44Read the page →
Read the text
The first settlement hj Europeans in the County of Addison, was made bj the French, on the east shore of Lake Champlain. opposite Crown Point, in pursuance of their .plan to extend theii settlements, and fortifications, and set limits to those of the English. In the year 1730, a few individuals or families, came up the lake from Canada, and established themselves at Chimncj Point, in Addison, and built a block house and windmill, on the point where the tavern house now stands. The next year troops were sent out and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Addison county Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1886 · page 580Read the page →
Read the text
In 1770 began the charter difficulties with the town of Addison, of which Judge Smith writes as follows: " These difficulties continued till an agreement was ratified, May 17, 1774, by which Addison held according to her charter: but gave 8,000 acres of the disputed territory to the Panton proprietors 'for a reward for duties done in settling s'd tract,' which was defined and ratified at the first meeting held after the Revolutionary War, at Pawlet. This agreement left 115 acres of Panton territory, lying on Otter Creek, near Reef Bridge, detached from the rest of the town, and long known as 'Little Panton,' which was
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Addison county Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1886 · page 361Read the page →
Read the text
At about the time Addison was chartered, Panton also was granted to the first proprietors. But the grant as defined extended over the northern boundary of the town of Addison about four miles along the lake ; hence some of the first settlers of this town supposed they were locating in Panton. This state of affairs led to protracted trouble and litigation between the two towns, which was not finally settled until May 17, 1774; Addison held her territory according to her charter, by right of priority of grant ; but she gave up to Panton 8,000 acres of the disputed territory, "for a reward for duties done in
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of the town of Middlebury, in the country of Addison, Vermont1859 · page 56Read the page →
Read the text
cation for them, and soon extended over nearly the whole territory chartered by New Hampshire. The valleys of Lake Champlain and Otter Creek, were granted principally to reduced officers, and a large territory, north of Addison Count}*, was reserved for noncommissioned officers and soldiers. A small tract was also reserved for them in the County of Addison, near the bend of the creek in Weybridge and New Haven, and perhaps some contiguous territory.
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.
Timeline
Addison, 1761 to 2000
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 18th century
- 1761FoundingAddison is established
- 1795
BuiltJohn Strong House is built - 1798Post officeThe Addison post office opens
- 19th century
- 1825Post officeThe Chimney Point post office opens
- 1856Post officeThe West Addison post office opens
- 20th century
- 1902Post officeThe Addison post office closes
- 1902Post officeThe West Addison post office closes
- 1934Post officeThe Chimney Point post office closes
- 1940
In the archiveChurch and grange. Addison, Vermont, by Louise Rosskam, United States Office of War Infor… - 1945
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 21st century
- 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 1,393
By decade
Addison, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1950s–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
2017
2015
2015
2015
2015
2013
2011
2011
2006
2004On the map
Addison on the map, 1945 to 1986
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Addison. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1945Port Henry sheet · 1:62,500U.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 viewChurch and grange. Addison, Vermont, by Louise Rosskam, United States Office of War Information, August 1940, from the …, 1940
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 · +15On the National Register
4 historic places in Addison
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1971
Chimney Point Tavern
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Georgian1
Federal1
All 4 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Addison’s history
What year was Addison founded?
In 1761, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Addison’s post office opened in 1798, and the first U.S. census counted 401 people here in 1790.
How does Addison rank for history?
Addison is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns. 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?
4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Chimney Point Tavern (listed 1971, the first).
How old are the homes in Addison?
23% of Addison’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 22% for a Vermont town; the median home was built in 1980.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.