[4] 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.”[5] 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 grew sufficiently to attract the railroad in 1883, an event which contributed to a sudden expansion of the local economy.

Businesses came to Addison in great numbers including a three-story hotel, designed to cater to the visiting tourist.

Despite the economic downturn of the village in the last half of the 20th century, a large 3-day sesquicentennial celebration was held in 1984.

[5] In the later 2010s, the medical cannabis industry identified Addison as a community open to economic expansion with provisioning and grow centers.

[6] Addison got its own radio station in August 2014 with the sign-on of WQAR-LP "Q95 the Panther" at 95.7 FM.

The station is owned by Addison Community Schools and programmed by students with classic rock music.