OLD CITY TELEPHONE & ADDRESS DIRECTORIES

1. INTRODUCTION

CITY ADDRESS DIRECTORIES, like the 1914 Scranton Pa. directory above, were the books that preceded telephone directories. Telephone directories began to replace the address directories in the 1930s. These directories not only contain names and addresses but many times occupations and widow/widower listings. Their value lies in tracing the family’s mobility over a period of time, ascertaining when spouses died and when children became of age and were subsequently listed at the same address as their parents. This can help establishing the identities of hitherto unknown children or other relatives in a family.

Our FCBoutique auctions here on EBAY can put many of these major and not so major city directories within your grasp.

2. USING THESE DIRECTORIES

A. If you are trying to research your family back to the 1930 census, tracing them backwards from a known date and address can get you to the 1930 census where you can begin to use the censuses to find out additional information about your ancestors. This helps especially if your family had a common name. Once you connect at the 1930 census you will be sure of their address at that point. Then continue back to 1920 where you can again verify your findings against that census. After 1900 these address directories become especially important as these is no 1890 census and the 1880 census very rarely listed addresses only cities and sections of cities.

B. If you don’t know exactly when someone died, trace them through directories and you can pinpoint the death to within 12 months. Since the last census released was 1930 and if your ancestor was listed, then by knowing his or her address you can go to that city’s 1931, 1932 etc directories and see when your ancestor disappeared. Usually, if is a man, he will be replaced art the same address by an oldest child or a widow.

At this point you can narrow down an obit search in a local newspaper and a burial in a cenetery!

C. Knowing that your ancestor lived at a certain address, finding others listed at the same address in a certain year will be a good indication that they are adult children or siblings living together.

Here are some examples to look for:

1. A listing such as “McDermott, Lucy (widow of Thomas) 300 Scranton Ave” will tell you that Thomas died within 12 months of the printing of that year’s directory.

2. Several scattered listings for McDermott such as for an Adam, a Nora and a Samuel but all at the same address will tell you they are related and may be multi-generational members such as sisters, sons and daughters.

3. A listing such as “Thomas McDermott (Helen) 300 Scranton Ave.” will tell you that Helen is Thomas’s wife.

4. Listings such as Thomas McDermott, McDermott Paint Co. 149 Lackawanna Ave. h. 300 Scranton Ave” will tell you the address of Thomas’ businesss followed by his h. (home) address.

5. A listing like “Thomas McDermott Jr. , airforce, r. 300 Scranton Ave.” will tell you that Thomas Sr.s son resides (r.) at 300 Scranton Ave. but is stationed in the military somewhere else. This can help you find a sibling in a draft card.

6. A listing like “Adam McDermott, student, r. 300 Scranton Ave.” will tell you that Adam is probably Thomas Jr.’s brother and he is still in High School and too young for the military like his brother. So if you are looking at the 1914 Scranton Directory, you can probably narrow your search for Adam;s Lackawanna County birth certificate to the years 1895 to 1900. Finding that birth certificate could tell you Adam’s mother’s name if she isn’t listed in the directory.

All in all, City Telephone and Address Directories, are a gateway to entire families and thus their worth cannot be underestimated.

NOW….

D. Working forward from the 30s 40s 50s or 60s to near present time, you can possibly find living descendents in that city whom you can “cold call” on the telephone by looking them up on an internet people search and hopefully getting even more information and connections.

3.LIST OF AVAILABLE CITIES YOU CAN RESEARCH

Here is where WE can help you. If you don’t have access to any of the following directories FCBoutique can research them for you by going to one of our auctions!!

ALABAMA, Birmingham (1888-1960)

ALABAMA, Montgomery (1880-1960)

ARIZONA, Phoenix (1903-1960)

CALIFORNIA, Fresno (1887-1960)

CALIFORNIA, Los Angeles (1861-1942)

CALIFORNIA, Sacramento (1861-1935)

CALIFORNIA, San Francisco (1861-1960)

CALIFORNIA, San Jose (1901-1960)

CONN., New Haven (1861-1955)

CONN., Bridgeport (1862-1960)

DISTRICT OF CLOUMBIA, Washington (1861-1960)

FLORIDA, Miami (1916-1960)

FLORIDA, Tampa (1899-1935)

GEORGIA, Savannah (1861-1935)

GEORGIA, Atlanta (1867-1960)

HAWAII, Honolulu (1905-1960)

KENTUCKY, Louisville (1861-1960)

LOUISIANA, Baton Rouge (1905-1960)

LOUISIANA, New Orleans (1861-1960)

LOUISIANA, Shreveport (1902-1960)

MAINE, Agusta (1867-1960)

MARYLAND, Baltimore (1881-1959)

MASS., Boston (1867-1960)

MASS., Cambridge (1861-1954)

MICHIGAN, Ann Arbor (1886-1943)

MICHIGAN, Detroit (1861-1960)

MINNESOTA St. Paul (1863-1935)

MISSISSIPPI, Jackson (1901-1960)

MISSOURI, St. Louis (1868-1935)

MONTANA, Butte (1884-1960)

NEBRASKA, Lincoln (1912-1960)

NEBRASKA, Omaha (1861-1959)NEW JERSEY, Jersey City 1850-1910, 1914,1915,1918, 1923,1925, 1930-1970

NEW JERSEY, Camden 1863-1947

NEW JERSEY, Trenton 1867-1935

NEW JERSEY, Paterson 1872-1960

NEW JERSEY, Passaic 1882-1930 And 1937-1956 Including Clifton

NEW JERSEY, New Brunswick 1886-1933

NEW JERSEY, Newark 1861-1958

NEW JERSEY, Bloomfield 1945-1959

NEW JERSEY, Asbury Park 1885-1955

NEW JERSEY, Atlantic City 1882-1958

NEW JERSEY, Hackensack 1901-1960

NEW YORK, Manhattan (1800-2005)

NEW YORK, QUEENS (1930-2005)

NEW YORK, BROOKLYN (1842-2005 with many years missing)

NEW YORK, Richmond a/k/a/ Staten Island (1930-2005)

NEW YORK, Buffalo ( 1861-1960)

NEW YORK, Albany ( 1861-1960)

NEW YORK, Schenectady (1860-1935)

OHIO, Akron (1889-1949)

OHIO, Cincinatti (1861-1960)

OHIO, Cleveland (1861-1960)

PENNSYLVANIA, Altoona (1882-1957)

PENNSYLVANIA, Bethlehem (1920-1960)

PENNSYLVANIA, Harrisburg (1861-1960)

PENNSYLVANIA, Philadelphia (1863-1935

PENNSYLVANIA, Pittsburgh (1861-1948)

PENNSYLVANIA, Scranton (1861-1960)

RHODE ISLAND, Providence (1861-1935)

TENNESSEE, Nashville (1860-1960)

TEXAS, Dallas (1861-1960)

TEXAS, Houston (1882-1959)

UTAH, Salt Lake City (1861-1960)

VIRGINIA, Alexandria (1882-1959)

WASHINGTON, Spokane (1889-1935)

WASHINGTON, Seattle (1861-1935)