Located in DuPage county, it is just west of the Chicago Metropolitan Area. Also known as the Village of Friendship, the town was named after the 18th century writer Joseph Addison. The town was originally known as Dunklee’s Grove, after one of the first settlers in the area. The village was established around 1834. Addison now has a population of about 36,000.Addison’s roots lie in German and Lutheran traditions. In 1874 the first Orphanage was built in the town, in 1877 the association held it’s first Orphan Festival, later to be called the Kinderheim Picnic. This festival drew large crowds so since the festival attracted so many people, in the 1890’s 5 of Addison’s citizens created the Addison Railroad Company. The train doubled festival attendance from 5,000 to 10,000. Addison began to grow in area and population around the 1960’s when Anthony Ross a developer built Normandy Manor. During the 1960’s and 1970’s Adventureland Amusement Park was located on Lake and Medinah, which also drew more tourist to the town. The Addison population grew from 813 in 1950 to over 35,000 today!
