City Directories

While originally created to serve salesmen and businesses, city directories are now a valuable resource for genealogists. Where census records allow us to follow a family every decade, city directories offer the opportunity to track a family or individual almost every year.

City directories are organized by location were published annually since about 1800, some as far back as the 1700’s. The population sections were listed by surname alphabetically. Names are shown, with wives names in parentheses, along with their address and occupation. Sometimes other information is shown, such as the name of their business, if they rent or own, their marital status, or if they are a member of a society or professional organization.

Though it doesn’t often list relationships, seeing a list of all the individuals living in a certain area with the same surname can help you make connections. Also using the cross-street index feature available in many city directories can help you learn who was living at the same addresses and might be related, or the names of neighbors that might be helpful in your research. This feature could also help you find the name of a newly married daughter that lost her maiden name, or of a newly married widow whom is now listed under her new husband’s surname, but living at the same address.

And though it doesn’t list birth or death dates, if you notice a man with his wife’s name in parentheses, and then the following year find him again with a “w” for widow instead of his wife’s name, you know to then search for her death record within the last year.

You can also use city directories to find local businesses, places of worship, and schools, as well as local maps at the time your ancestor was living there. Knowing which church was closest to them may help you figure out which one to contact in search of records. City directories can also offer the names of local newspapers published at the time.

Research tips:

  • Search for both “city directories” and “city directory” with the location name ahead of it in places like Google Books, Internet Archive, or HathiTrust. These are all excellent free resources for city directories.

  • Look at the beginning of the book for any list of abbreviations that were used within, such as “res” for resides

  • Check for multiple spellings of last names

  • Minorities may be listed separately than others

  • People also living at the same address may be relatives, or boarders

  • Directories may list if owner or renter, if owner then look for property or land records

  • City and town names may have changed or merged over time. Also smaller, rural areas may be included in directories for larger nearby towns.

  • In addition to checking the population lists, don’t forget to check the business and organizations lists, as well as any last minute entries in the end.

  • If you have a marriage certificate, look up the priest or minister that performed the service to find the name of his church

  • Use the cross-street index in the back of many directories to see who was living at the same address.

Where to look for City Directories:

Various Online City Directories


Outside the US


Other Types of Directories

  • Telephone Directories, or phone books, were popular during the use of landlines. Though they were often called the “Yellow Pages”, it was actually the white section, or “White Pages” that listed individuals along with their address and phone number (the yellow section was for businesses). People were listed alphabetically by surname. Local libraries may contain historical collections.

  • Professional and Membership Directories - from florists, mechanics, architects to teachers, there may have been a society or group publication of member lists. Look up your ancestors profession and see what you can discover, using the same search methods above.

  • Medical Directories - the American Medical Association (AMA) first published the American Medical Directory in 1906, and later published the Directory of Deceased American Physicians 1804 - 1929 in 1993 with records of physicians who died prior to 1970. The latter can be partially viewed at the NIH U.S. National Library of Medicine’s Finding Aid for the AMA Deceased Physicians Masterfile 1906 - 1969. Also see a helpful list of medical membership directories and biographies at the National Library of Medicine (NLM) as well as the NLM’s Manuscript Collections

  • Law Directories - look in local libraries or specific law libraries for directories of lawyers. Well known ones are the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory published in 1931 (earlier directories include Martindale’s American Law Directory and later Hubbell’s Legal Directory) and Campbell’s List

  • Religious Directories and Membership Rosters - see Church Records