Addison, North Dakota was established in 1880 as a Great Northern Railroad station first named Williams for nearby bonanza farmer H. M. Williams. After pioneer Addison Leech, Sr. bought Williams' farmland, the township was renamed Addison in 1882 and organized on February 5, 1884. At its height, Addison included a general store, a blacksmith shop, a depot, three grain elevators, and about eight dwellings. Blacksmith shops carried out all of their work on site, including harness repairs and oiling and horseshoe repairs. The structure known as the Harness Shop originally served as an office at the Addison elevator between Durbin and Davenport, was later moved to Kindred for use as a warming house at a skating rink but never completed there, and was then bought by Bonanzaville in the late 1960s. It was restored by the Smith family in honor of their grandfather Charles O. Smith, founder of the Dakota Harness Company in 1884, and grandson Thomas Smith helped with the restoration and cleaning while the company, then known as the Dakota Hardware Company, donated many of the items inside.