The online edition is accessible throughout the year in a searchable format institutions that have previously listed in the. This research can also help historians and other researchers understand how the mix of commercial and residential properties has changed in cities and neighborhoods. Old phone books and city directories for alaska alaska directory catalog. The phone company in most cities publishes a directory of everyone in that area who has a listed phone number.
The quality and significance of the documents, photographs and films we preserve have been recognised by both arts council england and unesco uk historical phone books. All locations and bookdrops of the san francisco public library are currently closed to help limit the spread of covid19. Middleton public library cardholders have access to atoz databases. This index presents the subject headings covered in the local history pamphlet files. The 45th edition of the directory of history departments, historical organizations, and historians, which covers the academic year 201920, has been published in both a print and an online version. Telephone and city directories in the library of congress. Manhattan and the bronx are listed together, brooklyn and queens are listed together, and richmond staten island has its own list.
These are wonderful family history resources, and many of them are now available online in searchable archives. City directories, 18221995 search historical records. They date back to 1880, the year after the public telephone service was introduced into great britain. Local libraries and organizations often retain such material. Or course, you need to make a trip to washington dc to use the collection. Cities, however, offer an invaluable historical and genealogical resource not available to those of us researching rural ancestorsnamely, city directories. Early phone directories provide a wealth of information about residents, including their names, occupations and employers. Welcome to the online historical directories website. Telephone directory directory first telephone book links local calling areas.
Historical street and business directories first appeared in the late 1600s, but they didnt become widespread until the early 1800s when they were pri. The phone company in most cities publishes a directory of everyone in. Post office telephone directories ukgdl genealogical. How to find free historical directories for your ancestry research.
These can be accessed free of charge via our online historical directories collection or with additional. Theres a lot of work that needs to be done to this site, and with all the online databases available, its likely this project will be a. A couple of years ago i wrote about how to access the indispensable online historical archive of the dallas morning news, beginning in 1885 that post is here, but i havent written about how to use the equally important databases containing scans of dallas city directories, beginning with the 1875 directory. For information on telephone directories for specific locations or areas both in new jersey and elsewhere, consider contacting libraries or historical societiesgroups in the same area. Hig has a huge inhouse collection of scanned city directories, crisscross directories, digital phone books and other similar publications to supplement your research. Telephone directories provide a detailed name and address listing and phone number, of course. Our extensive collectons of local trade directories include 675 digitised volumes, including at least one directory for every english and welsh county for each of the 1850s, 1890s, and 1910s. Street names of vancouver by elizabeth walker, vancouver, b. The database currently contains directories for all states except alaska. When doing a reverse phone lookup, the area code may have changed in the past 20 years.
You can use historical directories for genealogy and family history in many ways. This book meticulously documents these changes and is a great complement to the vancouver city directories. British phone books 18801984 from the collection held by bt archives. Before there were phone books, cities, counties, towns and villages often published directories of leading citizens, and just about all businesses in the area. The 1928 reverse directory is available online from the chicago historical society.
They can be thought of as the predecessors to the modernday phone book and usually list names, addresses, and sometimes the occupations of your ancestors. Louis city directories, gazetteers, rosters, and guides. Listing in the directory american historical association. The middleton public library carries the printed madison and middleton telephone directories only. This group is for educating genealogists and historians about using city directories for research, as well. It is meant to be used as an aid to genealogists, historians, and other researchers. This database is a collection of directories street, commercial, trade, court, post office, etc.
This database is a collection of directories for u. Bts historical phone books from 18801984 are available. Directories and member lists are typically compilations of information about people who belonged to various associations and groups or lived within city boundaries. Download our guide, 6 things to find in city directories, to learn more. Telephone directories contain addresses and phone numbers and can be quite helpful in locating living relatives or possible relatives with the same surname or a similar surname. Edina phone directories the collection includes directories from 1931 to today. Alternatively, enter keywords into the box above, or use the advanced search. We will be digitizing all of the existing rochester city directories for the years 18271946. Phone address directories international directories area code locators state abbreviations zip codes package delivery services u. The library or congress, in washington dc, had a large collection of historical phone books, and also city directories, when i was there about 10 years ago. Alphabetical telephone directory covering all five boroughs of new york. The same content is now available in ancestry uk, city and county directories, 1766 1946. With over 10 million entries, information contained in this database includes.
The library of congress makes available to the public an extensive collection of current and noncurrent telephone, city, and reverse telephone crisscross directories for the united states and many foreign countries. Phoneaddress directories international directories area code locators state abbreviations zip. Theres a lot of work that needs to be done to this site, and with all the online databases available, its likely this project will be a continuous workinprogress. How to access historical dallas city directories online. If a year is not listed, no directory exists for that year. Search free chicago city directories online for genealogy research, with direct links to sites hosting free chicago directories online. Searching free online historical directories someone are you listening out there should build a website with a comprehensive collection of free online historical directories. Free chicago city directories online sassy jane genealogy.
Many directories include a reverse lookup by address. They can be used to track down relatives, but you can also use the service to find out if your. Uk big five carriers bin wired broadband download quotas for as long as. The phone books date back to 1880 and contain 280 million names. City directories, arguably one of the most overlooked resources by genealogists, have been around since the 1700s. Local history pamphlet file index mpl has a wideranging collection of pamphlets, brochures and other ephemera from throughout milwaukees history. Does anyone know of the availability of any of these for any particular cities in digital form. Many of the street names in vancouver have changed or have fallen into disuse over the years. Directories are fundamental tools heavily used in historical research, but as digital texts they gain even greater use. These directories are available in a variety of formats and locations. This web site will attempt to identify all printed, microfilmed, and online directories, and their repositories, for the united states.
We recommend this means of access to genealogists with an ancestry subscription or access via their local library. Telephone directories is a place where you can look for information of people within the territory of the united states of america, this information is totally free and safe. Currently, some ancestry links dont work from this site because the affiliate. The next print version will be published in october 2020. This one works a bit differently by making sections available by alphabet for download. Internet links to email and street addresses, telephone directories, zip codes, state abbreviations, package delivery information. Anywho is a free service that allows you to search the white pages by name, or, enter a phone number and find out who owns it using reverse phone lookup. City directories, 18221995 this database is a collection of directories for u. Some even include the ages of children in the household. Once digitized, a directory can be searched not just by surnames, but by addresses, occupations, and dates. We have a nearcomplete set of phone books for the whole country produced not only by bt, but also by its predecessors including post office telecommunications, the national.
Click on the map below or select from the list to browse by location. Complete your family history by finding web sites with online data so that you can answer the question. Includes lists, by state, of historical directories that are available. British columbia city directories 18601955 page image. We also have the madisondane county polk directory, as well as the middleton city phonebook archives, dating back to 1966. The directories were originally digitised as part of the historical directories project, funded by the big lottery fund.
The good old phone book can be a genealogists best friend. This collection is temporarily unavailable but will return. But better yet all the text is fully searchable by keywords such as name, occupation, business, street name, address, phone number, etc. New york city including all boroughs telephone directory. City directories offer anyone conducting family history research in a city or large town a nearly annual census of city residents, as well as a window into the community in which they lived.
Bt is putting its entire archive of old phone books online for genealogists. Many phone numbers are listed with just an initial or no first name at all if you dont get any matches, try searching again with no first name or initial. About canadian phone and address directories, 19952002 this database is a collection of phone and address directories from throughout canada from 19952002. The database currently contains directories for all. Ada county directory canyon county directory twin falls county directory idaho real estate commission phone. Current directories telephone and city directories in. I dont mean scanned and digitized images of historical directories, rather, already parsed or easily parsable collections.
The most useful is finding where your ancestors lived and what their occupations were. If you are searching for the surname oconnor, search for oconnor also. British phone books, 18801984 search historical records. Rochester city directories by decade rochester public. Historical phone bookscity directoriesyellow pages. Telephone directory collection, available online library of. But beyond that, collections of phone books can bracket how long a person lived at a particular address, showing when their listing first appears, when it changes to a new address, and when it eventually disappears, as. Midwest musicians and allied artists directory, midwest concert management, 19256 free internet archive although this directory is primarily for the midwest, some listings for new york appear on page 181. Telephone directories contain addresses and phone numbers and can be quite helpful in locating living relatives or possible relatives with the same surname or. This is the purpose of the online historical directories website.
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