City and business directories are available online from all over the U.S. and are what I consider another important set of information that can assist you in advancing your family history and genealogy research.
This activity of presenting links is a collaborative effort between The Ancestor Hunt and Miriam Robbins, who for years has made available the Online Historical Directories website, which presents links to directories of all types that are available online, including free collections as well as those available only via subscription. I wish to thank Miriam for her help in launching this category of records at The Ancestor Hunt.
So, what kinds of directories are available to the researcher? Naturally city and business directories, but also telephone directories, and alumni, farm, lodge, rural, and social directories.
What can you find in these records? How about:
- Full names, including middle names
- Spouse name
- Occupation
- Widows, working women, and adult children at home.
- Maps
- Businesses (and index to advertisers).
- Addresses and maps of churches, schools, funeral homes, cemeteries, post offices, courts, hospitals, benevolent associations, newspapers.
- Whether a woman is a widow (including name of husband).
- List of marriages and deaths of previous year.
- Death date.
- etc.
Here are a few good primers on the benefits of searching historical city and other directories:
- FamilySearch - United States Directories
- How to Use City Directories In Your Genealogy Research
- What's In A City Directory? (a 10 article series about City Directories)
Note: Some of the links listed below take you to a FamilySearch Collection of digital images. Near the bottom of the page under Film/Digital Notes is the name of each sub-collection. If there is a camera icon at the right of the name (in the Format column) then the collections' images are browsable. If there is a camera with a key icon, it is only available at a Family History Center or affiliated library. If there is a film reel icon, then it is only available in microfilm format, not digital.
(Updated July, 2020; recently added links are in BOLD)
Links to these free collections are presented initially with statewide collections, followed in alphabetical order by city or county. Generally, the publishing company is included in the reference to the collection, along with the collection title, and the date(s) of the directory:
Statewide
- 1871 The New Hampshire Register, Farmer’s Almanac and Business Directory
- 1874 The New Hampshire Register, Farmer’s Almanac and Business Directory
- 1881 The New Hampshire Register, Farmer’s Almanac and Business Directory
- 1884 The New Hampshire Register, Farmer’s Almanac and Business Directory
- New England Business Directory, Sampson & Murdock, 1916 (Part 1)
- New England Business Directory, Sampson & Murdock, 1918 (Part 1)
- New Hampshire 1823 Gazetteer
- New Hampshire business directory, 1868
- New Hampshire business directory, 1874
- New Hampshire business directory, 1888
- New Hampshire Business Directory, Claremont Manufacturing Co., 1878
- New Hampshire Business Directory, Home Publishing Co., 1892
- New Hampshire Register and Business Directory, 1921-1922
- New Hampshire state directory and gazetteer for 1917
- The New Hampshire register and farmer's almanac 1822
- The New Hampshire register and farmer's almanac 1823
- The New Hampshire register and farmer's almanac 1824
- The New Hampshire register and farmer's almanac 1827-29
- The New Hampshire register and farmer's almanac 1830-33
- The New Hampshire register and farmer's almanac 1834
- The New Hampshire register and farmer's almanac 1835
- The New Hampshire register and farmer's almanac 1837
- The New Hampshire register and farmer's almanac 1840
- The New Hampshire register and farmer's almanac 1841
- The New Hampshire register and farmer's almanac 1846
- The New Hampshire register and farmer's almanac 1849
- The New Hampshire register and farmer's almanac 1851
- The New Hampshire register and farmer's almanac 1854
- The New Hampshire register and farmer's almanac 1867
- The New Hampshire register and farmer's almanac 1869
- The New Hampshire register, farmers' almanac and business directory - 1868
- The New Hampshire register, farmers' almanac and business directory - 1869
- The New Hampshire register, farmers' almanac and business directory - 1871
- The New Hampshire register, farmers' almanac and business directory - 1872
- The New Hampshire register, farmers' almanac and business directory - 1873
- The New Hampshire register, farmers' almanac and business directory - 1874
- The New Hampshire register, farmers' almanac and business directory - 1875
- The New Hampshire register, farmers' almanac and business directory - 1876
- The New Hampshire register, farmers' almanac and business directory - 1877
- The New Hampshire register, farmers' almanac and business directory - 1881
- The New Hampshire register, farmers' almanac and business directory - 1882
- The New Hampshire register, farmers' almanac and business directory - 1883
- The New Hampshire register, farmers' almanac and business directory - 1884
- The New Hampshire register, farmers' almanac and business directory - 1885
- The New Hampshire register, farmers' almanac and business directory - 1886
- The New Hampshire register, farmers' almanac and business directory - 1887
- The New Hampshire register, farmers' almanac and business directory - 1888
- The New Hampshire register, farmers' almanac and business directory - 1889
- The New Hampshire register, farmers' almanac and business directory - 1890
- The New Hampshire register, farmers' almanac and business directory - 1891
- The New Hampshire register, farmer's almanac and business directory 1871
- The New Hampshire register, farmer's almanac and business directory 1871-1873
- The New Hampshire register, farmer's almanac and business directory 1872
- The New Hampshire register, farmer's almanac and business directory 1873-74
- The New Hampshire register, farmer's almanac and business directory 1874-1876
- The New Hampshire register, farmer's almanac and business directory 1877-1880
- The New Hampshire register, farmer's almanac and business directory 1881-1883
- The New Hampshire register, farmer's almanac and business directory 1884-1887
- The New Hampshire register, farmer's almanac and business directory 1892
- The New Hampshire register, farmer's almanac and business directory 1901
- The New Hampshire register, farmer's almanac and business directory 1903
- The New Hampshire Register, Farmer's Almanac and Business Directory, 1871
- The New Hampshire Register, Farmer's Almanac and Business Directory, 1874
- The New Hampshire Register, Farmers' Almanac and Business Directory, 1878
- The New Hampshire Register, Farmer's Almanac and Business Directory, 1881
- The New Hampshire Register, Farmer's Almanac and Business Directory, 1884
- The New Hampshire Register, Farmers' Almanac and Business Directory, 1892
- The New Hampshire register, farmer's almanac and business directory, 1871
- The New Hampshire register, farmer's almanac and business directory, 1871-1873
- The New Hampshire register, farmer's almanac and business directory, 1872
- The New Hampshire register, farmer's almanac and business directory, 1873-74
- The New Hampshire register, farmer's almanac and business directory, 1874-1876
- The New Hampshire register, farmer's almanac and business directory, 1877-1880
- The New Hampshire register, farmer's almanac and business directory, 1881-1883
- The New Hampshire register, farmer's almanac and business directory, 1884-1887
- The New Hampshire register, farmer's almanac and business directory, 1901
- The New Hampshire register, farmer's almanac and business directory, 1903
- The New Hampshire state directory and gazetteer, 1907
- The New Hampshire state directory and gazetteer, 1910
- The New Hampshire state directory and gazetteer, 1912
- The New Hampshire state directory and gazetteer, 1913
- The New-Hampshire register, farmers' almanac, and business directory for 1878.
- Walton's Vermont register and farmer's almanack 1866
- Walton's Vermont register and farmer's almanack 1855-1856
- Walton's Vermont register and farmer's almanack 1819, 1821
- Walton's Vermont register and farmer's almanack 1829
- Walton's Vermont register and farmer's almanack 1829-30
- Walton's Vermont register and farmer's almanack 1833
- Walton's Vermont register and farmer's almanack 1835-36
- Walton's Vermont register and farmer's almanack 1836-38
- Walton's Vermont register and farmer's almanack 1840-42
- Walton's Vermont register and farmer's almanack 1841-42
- Walton's Vermont register and farmer's almanack 1843-44
- Walton's Vermont register and farmer's almanack 1845
- Walton's Vermont register and farmer's almanack 1846
- Walton's Vermont register and farmer's almanack 1848-49
- Walton's Vermont register and farmer's almanack 1851-52
- Walton's Vermont register and farmer's almanack 1853-54
- Walton's Vermont register and farmer's almanack 1855
- Walton's Vermont register and farmer's almanack 1856
- Walton's Vermont register and farmer's almanack 1863
- Walton's Vermont register, farmers' almanac, and business directory 1871
- Walton's Vermont register, farmers' almanac, and business directory 1875
- Walton's Vermont register, farmers' almanac, and business directory 1877-78
- Walton's Vermont register, farmers' almanac, and business directory 1880
- Walton's Vermont register, farmers' almanac, and business directory 1882
- Walton's Vermont register, farmers' almanac, and business directory 1891
Cheshire County Concord
- 1850 Directory containing the names, occupations and residence of the inhabitants of Concord Centre village
- 1853-54 Directory containing the names, occupations and residence of the inhabitants of Concord Centre village
- 1860 Watson’s The Concord City Directory
- 1860-61 Merrill and Son’s Concord City Directory
- 1864 Watson’s The Concord City Directory
- 1892 The Concord Directory and Guide
- Concord [New Hampshire] directory] - 1876-1877
- Concord Centre village Directory, 1850
- Concord City Directory, Watson, 1864
- The Concord city directory, 1864
- 1859 Dover, New Hampshire, Directory
- 1871-72 Dover, New Hampshire, City Directory
- Dover, New Hampshire, city directory 1871-72
- 1872 Exeter, New Market, and South New Market directory and history
- Alumni directory, the Phillips Exeter Academy, 1959
- The town register : Exeter, Hampton, 1908
- Exeter & Hampton, New Hampshire census & business directory, 1908
- Gazetteer of Grafton County, N.H., 1709-1886
- Gazetteer of Grafton County, N.H., 1709-1886
- Grafton County NH, 1709-1886 Directory
- 1846 Manchester, New Hampshire, City Directory
- 1879 Pocket business directory and industrial and social statistics of the city of Manchester, N.H.
- 1884 Pocket business directory and industrial and social statistics of the city of Manchester, N.H.
- 1889 Manchester, New Hampshire, City Directory
- 1890 Manchester City Directory
- 1906 Manchester, New Hampshire, City Directory
- 1915 Manchester, New Hampshire, City Directory
- 1918 Manchester City Directory
- Adams, Sampson & Co., 1860 Manchester, New Hampshire, city directory
- Adams, Sampson & Co., 1879 Manchester, New Hampshire, city directory
- Manchester City Directory, 1866
- Manchester, New Hampshire, city directory, 1889
- Manchester, New Hampshire, city directory, 1915
- Manchester, New Hampshire, directory, 1860
- Polk Manchester, New Hampshire, city directory, 1906
- Polk’s 1906 Manchester, New Hampshire, city directory
- Sampson, Davenport & Co. 1866 Manchester City Directory
- Sampson, Davenport & Co. 1869 Manchester City Directory
- Sampson, Davenport & Co. 1882 Manchester City Directory
- Sampson, Davenport & Co. 1883 Manchester City Directory
- Sampson, Davenport & Co. 1884 Manchester City Directory
- Sampson, Murdock & Co., 1889 Manchester, New Hampshire, city directory
- Sampson, Murdock & Co., 1906 Manchester, New Hampshire, city directory
- Sampson, Murdock & Co., 1908 Manchester, New Hampshire, city directory
- Sampson, Murdock & Co., 1915 Manchester, New Hampshire, city directory
- Sampson, Murdock & Co., 1916 Manchester, New Hampshire, city directory
- Sampson, Murdock & Co., 1921 Manchester, New Hampshire, city directory
- The Manchester Directory - 1906
- The Manchester Directory - 1935
- The Manchester, New Hampshire, Directory, 1860
- The Manchester, New Hampshire, Directory, 1882
- The Manchester, New Hampshire, Directory, 1883
- The Manchester, New Hampshire, Directory, 1884
- The Manchester, New Hampshire, Directory, 1887
- The Manchester, New Hampshire, Directory, 1897
- The Manchester, New Hampshire, Directory, 1899
- The Manchester, New Hampshire, Directory, 1900
- The Manchester, New Hampshire, Directory, 1905
- The Manchester, New Hampshire, Directory, 1906
- The Manchester, New Hampshire, Directory, 1908
- The Manchester, New Hampshire, Directory, 1909
- The Manchester, New Hampshire, Directory, 1911
- The Manchester, New Hampshire, Directory, 1916
- The Manchester, New Hampshire, Directory, 1921
- The Manchester, New Hampshire, Directory, 1922
- The Nashua Directory, 1897
- The Nashua Directory, 1898
- The Nashua Directory, 1899
- The Nashua Directory, 1900
- The Nashua Directory, 1901
- The Nashua Directory, 1906
- The Nashua Directory, 1907/08
- The Nashua Directory, 1910
- The Nashua Directory, 1914
- The Portsmouth Directory, 1851
- The Portsmouth Directory, 1860-61
- The Portsmouth Directory, 1879
- The Portsmouth Directory, 1901
- The Portsmouth Directory, 1905
- The Portsmouth Directory, 1908
- The Portsmouth Directory, 1910
- The Portsmouth Directory, 1914
- The Portsmouth Directory, 1920
- 1893 Rochester, New Hampshire, City Directory
- Rochester [New Hampshire] directory - 1893
- Rochester [New Hampshire] directory - 1893
- Rochester [New Hampshire] directory, 1893
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
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