City directory
Appearance
![A list of persons by house number, on a street](http://178.128.105.246/content-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Peoria%2C_Illinois%2C_city_directory_%281910%29_%2814577395708%29.jpg/220px-Peoria%2C_Illinois%2C_city_directory_%281910%29_%2814577395708%29.jpg)
A city directory is a listing of residents, streets, businesses, organizations or institutions, giving their location in a city. It may be arranged alphabetically or geographically or in other ways.
Information
[edit]Antedating telephone directories, they were in use for centuries.[1] Many older directories have been digitized and are available on the open web and through subscription databases.[2]
Examples include Kelly's Directory, R.L. Polk & Company, the Boston Directory, and the New York City Directory. Henderson's Directories were available for several cities in Canada.
References
[edit]- ^ "City Directories". www.oberlinheritagecenter.org. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
- ^ Moazeni, Sarah. "Research Guides: New York City: City Directories". guides.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
Further reading
[edit]- Philip Sutton (2012), "Direct Me NYC 1786: A History of City Directories in the United States and New York City", NYPL Blogs, New York Public Library
- Richard Harris, Ben Moffat (June 1986). "How Reliable is the Modern City Directory?". Canadian Geographer. 30 (2): 154–158. doi:10.1111/j.1541-0064.1986.tb01040.x.
- George G. Morgan. "City vs. Telephone Directories". Ancestry.com.
- A. V. Williams (1913). The Development and Growth of City Directories. Cincinnati: Williams directory co.
- Florence May Hopkins (1919). Reference Guides that Should be Known and how to Use Them: Atlases; City Directories; Gazetteers. The Willard Company.