City directories were the forerunners of today's telephone books and contain listings for most, but not all, residents of a given city. The information generally consists of the person's name, occupation, residence address, and sometimes the business address. Usually the names are for family heads, however some directories also include the names of wives in parentheses. Employed children are also often listed as are older children attending school. Listings for widowed women usually include the name of their deceased husband, thus providing clues as to when he may have died.

Such listings can provide a profile of a given family, indicating their approximate arrival and departure dates from a city. The specific street address of a person may yield invaluable clues for locating families when the people are not found in existing census indexes. The street address, when used in conjunction with ward maps, ward boundary descriptions, and other finding aids, can enable a researcher to find that specific address in the federal census records and then learn the name of the inhabitants who were enumerated there.

The Family History Library has an extensive collection of city directories that includes most larger cities through 1935 as well as some later years. The majority of the directories are on microfilm, however some are on microfiche, and some are the original printed books.

For availability of your city and year of interest, you can either contact me via my email address or you may search the current online Family History Library catalog via the link below. Enter the city name on the first line and the state name on the second line. Once that city is brought up, then click on the blue "Directories" link. Under that link there may be several different titles which can be searched on an individual basis. By clicking on the individual blue titles, the years available will be displayed. For smaller towns, if no directories are available, it is possible that there may be county directories available. In that case, on the initial search page enter the county name on the first line and the state name on the second. If you experience difficulty using the catalog, please feel free to contact me via my email address.

Family History Library Catalog

Photocopies (scanned digital images) of city directory listings can be provided for either surnames or for individual persons at the rate of $4.25/name/year/city which includes the title page plus up to 2 photocopy/image pages. Additional photocopy/image pages are available at the rate of $.50 each. For orders of 6 to 11 names/years, the cost is $4. For orders of 12 or more, the individual cost is $3.75/name/year. Digital images of the listings can be emailed as attachments or can be printed out and sent via regular mail. Postage costs will apply if photocopies are sent via regular mail. Complimentary no-obligation estimates can be provided in advance.