Addison, Michigan

Addison is a village in Lenawee County of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 605 at the 2010 census. The village is located on the boundary between Rollin Township on the south and Woodstock Township on the north.GeographyAccording to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.00sqmi, of which 0.96sqmi is land and 0.04sqmi is water.HistoryIn 1834, when John Talbot settled along a winding creek in the infancy of southeast Michigan’s history, the area was 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.”Having failed to secure a spot along the river that provided enough water power to run his mill, Talbot dismantled the settlement and moved to the present location of Addison, and by the fall of 1836, milling operations restarted. The town was renamed “Peru” by 1838, and over the next generation would be given several other monikers before the final name of Addison was entered onto plat maps in 1851. Addison J. Comstock, a banker from Adrian, Michigan, purchased a sizable plat of the pioneer town and changed the identity to reflect this acquisition. The village itself was incorporated as such in 1893.The village grew sufficiently to attract the railroad in 1883, an event which contributed to a sudden expanse of Addison’s local economy. Businesses came to Addison in great numbers, as well as a three-story hotel, designed to cater to the visiting tourist. The Addison Courier newspaper started its 76-year run in 1884, and the economic upturn brought on by the railroad continued well after the line ceased to operate through Addison.