Free Online North Carolina City Directories

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, and newspapers.
  • Whether a woman is a widow (including the name of husband).
  • List of marriages and deaths of the previous year.
  • Death date.
  • etc.

Here are a few good primers on the benefits of searching historical city and other directories:​

And here are various places where you can find other city directories online: 

Note: Some of the links listed 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. To take full advantage, please make sure that you are logged in to FamilySearch. The results may be different if you are signed in, rather than not.

(Updated March 2024)

North Carolina City Directories

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. There may be duplicates; this just means that the same directory is on multiple websites:

Statewide

Ahoskie

Alamance County

Albemarle

Asheboro

Asheville

Beaufort County

Belmont

Belmont, Cramerton and Mount Holly

Benson

Brevard

Brevard-Lake Toxaway

Brevard-Rosman

Brevard-Rosman-Lake Toxaway

Burlington

Burlington and Graham

Burlington, Graham and Haw River

Canton

Carrboro

Caswell County

Chapel Hill

Charlotte

Clinton

Concord

Craven County

Dunn

Dunn-Erwin

Durham

Durham County

Edenton

Edgecombe and Nash County

Edgecombe County

Elizabeth City

Fayetteville

Forest City, Rutherfordton and Spindale

Forsyth County

Fuquay Springs and Varina

Gastonia

Goldsboro

Graham and Haw River

Granville County

Greensboro

Greenville

Guilford County

Hamlet

Henderson

Hendersonville

Hickory

High Point

Jacksonville

Kannapolis

Kernersville

Kings Mountain

Kinston

Laurinburg

Leaksville, Spray and Draper

Lenoir

Lexington

Lincolnton

Lumberton

Madison-Mayodan

Marion

Monroe

Moore County

Mooresville

Morehead City

Morehead City-Beaufort

Morganton

Mount Airy

New Bern

Newbern

Newton-Conover

North Wilkesboro

Orange County

Oxford

Plymouth

Raeford

Raleigh

Randolph County

Reidsville

Richmond County

Roanoke Rapids

Rockingham

Rockingham County

Rocky Mount

Roxboro

Salisbury

Salisbury-Spencer

Sanford

Scotland Neck

Shelby

Siler City

Smithfield

Smithfield and Selma

Southern Pines-Aberdeen

Spring Lake

Stanly

Statesville

Tarboro

Thomasville

Transylvania County

Valdese

Wadesboro

Wake County

Washington

Washington County

Waynesville, Hazelwood and Lake Junaluska

Whiteville

Williamston

Wilmington

Wilson

Windsor

Winston-Salem


For all Free North Carolina Collection Links in 24 Genealogy Categories, go to the By Location Page, click on North Carolina, and then click on the category of interest.

Good Luck and Happy Hunting!

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