Online Historical Directories

CA, CO, IL, MI, NE, NY, TX, and WA New Pages and Updates

2011-11-13T16:20:00.001-08:00

New Pages:

Franklin County, Illinois - with one link from Franklin County GenWeb

Winnebago County, Illinois - with one link from Cherry Valley Public Library District

Platte County, Nebraska - with three links from Platte County GenWeb

Updates:

California - added California Voter Registers, 1866-1898 from Ancestry to all California pages and updated California Voter Registrations, 1900-1968, also from Ancestry, from 1908-1968 to 1900-1968.

Sacramento County, California - one new link from the Golden Nugget Library

Boulder County, Colorado - four new links from Ancestry

Denver County, Colorado - nine new links from Ancestry

Bay County, Michigan - 27 new links from Ancestry and one from Google Books

Lancaster County, Nebraska - fixed broken link, updated name of publisher, and added index to 1925 Rural Directory

Erie County, New York - one new link from Erie County GenWeb

McClennan County, Texas - three new links from Baylor University Library

King County, Washington - five new links from Seattle Public Library

CA, IRE, NC, NY, and VA New Pages and Updates

2011-08-25T12:42:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the latest new pages and updates. In all the busy-ness of the site maintenance over the past four months, it's possible that I didn't make note of other new pages I created or updates I made. Since I made changes on every single page (over 700!) as part of the maintenance, it would be a time-consuming task to go through my site management pages to double check!

I encourage you to see if there is new information on a page you're familiar with, or a new page for one of your ancestral or research locations. Happy Hunting!

New Pages

County Cavan, Ireland - with one link from Library Ireland

County Donegal, Ireland - with two links from Library Ireland

County Dublin, Ireland - with two links from Library Ireland

County Kerry, Ireland - with one link from Library Ireland

Madison County, New York - with one link from the Internet Archive

Craven County, North Carolina - with one link from the Internet Archive

Cumberland County, North Carolina - with one link from the Internet Archive

Guilford County, North Carolina - with one link from the Internet Archive

City of Virginia Beach, Virginia - with one link from the Internet Archive

Updates

Los Angeles County, California - 22 new links from the Torrance Public Library, five from the Los Angeles Public Library, and six from the Internet Archive

Ireland - now with five out of 26 historic counties linked

New York - now with 41 out of 62 counties and New York City linked

Durham County, North Carolina - three new links from the DigitalNC Library/Durham County Library and 14 from the Internet Archive

North Carolina - now with 10 out of 100 counties linked

Mecklenburg, North Carolina - one new link from the Internet Archive

New Hanover, North Carolina - one new link from the Internet Archive

Wake County, North Carolina - one new link from the Internet Archive

Virginia - now with five out of 134 counties and independent cities linked

What in the World is Happening with the Online Historical Directories Website?

2011-08-25T11:12:00.000-07:00

I'm sure some of you have been wondering if the Online Historical Directories Website is still being updated. The answer is "YES!" In fact, I've had to do some major site maintenance, which is why it's been taking me so long to get back to adding new links to directories. Here are some things that I've been updating and changing as part of that maintenance:

Changing my name on every page to "Miriam J. Robbins" after my recent divorce and subsequent return to my maiden name (over 700 pages!).
Updating the copyright date on every page to reflect the 2011 year (and it won't be long before I'll be changing it again to 2012!).
Updating a few rogue pages' names from "Online City, County, and Rural Directories" to "Online Historical Directories". This was a decision I made back in October 2009, and there were still pages I had not updated after nearly two years!
Adding links on every page to the relevant corresponding page at the Online Historical Newspapers Website.
EveNDon has been a wonderful resource of free online directories, created by Eve and Don Kreiger of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Tragically, Eve passed away recently and Don has changed the name of the website to Don's List. Old links still work, but I wanted to make sure the site name was changed.
I changed all references of Family Tree Connections to reflect its parent company, GenealogyToday.
And just when I thought I was finished, Footnote changed its name to Fold3! Old links still work, but I did change the name on my site. I'll change links later.

Whew! And believe it or not, I have been adding links to directories. I'll post those updates later.

Thank you again for your patience, and as always, I'm grateful for new links and corrections sent my way (email me here).

I'm a Guest on GeneaBloggers Talk Radio!

2011-08-12T01:17:00.000-07:00

I'm honored to be one of two guests being interviewed on Thomas MacEntee's GeneaBloggers Talk Radio tonight, Friday the 12th, from 7:00 to 8:00 PM, PDT. The topic will be "Read All About It! Newspapers as Genealogy Resources." The other guest will be Thomas J. Kemp, of GenealogyBank and ObitsArchive. I'll be highlighting my Online Historical Newspapers website. You can listen online, call in (number is listed in the link below), and/or chat with other listeners on the site. If you can't make it, you can come back and listen later. The link to the show is here. Come join us!

NE Updates

2011-04-16T20:46:00.000-07:00

Updates

Nebraska - now with four out of 93 counties linked

Lancaster County, Nebraska - with one link from the Denton Community Historical Society

Madison County, Nebraska - with three links from the Madison County Genealogical Society

York County, Nebraska - with three links from the York County Historical Association

Familyrelatives.com Releases 1,000,000 New UK Post Office & Trade Directories

2010-12-05T11:09:00.000-08:00

Here's a press release from FamilyRelatives.com, which was originally published November 12:

Familyrelatives.com today announced the release of over 1 million Post Office records. The exciting new collection is set to grow over the coming months and will prove to be an extremely valuable resource and complement the existing Trade Directories, allowing them to be used side by side. The Post Office collection is, in effect, a Victorian version of today's Yellow Pages covering over 25 counties and major cities of Great Britain spanning nearly a century during Britain’s most prosperous years.

The records hold interesting information of not only ordinary families but also well known past and present companies and high street brands such as Lyons, Marks and Spencer’s and Woolworths, listed as “Toy and Fancy Dealers”.

There are a number of famous names that stand out - residences include Charles Dickens residing at Gads Hill House in Higham, Kent as well as Charles Darwin who was famous for his theories of evolution and wrote The Origin of Species, he is listed as living in Down, Kent as a Private Resident.

The Postal and Commercial Alphabetical Directory, referred to as Kelly’s, contains information organised by County. The early editions, “will be found superior both in quality and extent of information to the Edition previously issued.” The beginnings of these Directories can be attributed to Frederic Kelly when he was appointed “His Majesty’s Inspector of Inland Letter Carriers” at the turn of the 19th century. Kelly established his company and expanded on the original publications and produced directories for a number of UK cities and several other titles.

The earliest directories were published in London where demand for commercial information was greater, followed by other major cities in the United Kingdom. Using Kelly’s association with the Post Office to considerable advantage, he was partnered by Isaac Slater and taking over James Pigot’s in 1853, his market dominance was established so becoming the largest directory publisher in the late nineteenth century.

It is not surprising that these guides were used over 170 years ago by travelling salesmen as reference guides when looking for new trade and opportunities, in effect these Directories were the predecessor to the telephone directory and the Yellow pages.

The format of the publications is split into sections which provides a topographical description of settlements and cities as well as landmarks together with statistical information on the population. Generally alphabetical lists of the Clergy, Gentry, commercial occupations, streets, classified trades and advertisements are published. Many of the later Directories include private residents. An example of the sort of information a Post Office provides is shown below - which includes a fascinating combination of trades including a farmer, a farrier, a boot and shoe man, a beer retailer, and a number of shopkeepers.

Robert Woods a spokesman for Familyrelatives.com said “We are very pleased by the progress our digital archive department is making and we will continue to add further cities and counties covering a larger part of the UK allowing researchers the opportunity to learn what their ancestors were doing over the past 170 years”.

The collection is part of over 700 million historic records available online to all members and visitors by way of an annual subscription of only £30.00 or US$50.00 at www.familyrelatives.com

Familyrelatives.com has added the following new records

For further information visit http://www.familyrelatives.com

AL, CA, FL, IL, IN, NY, OH, SD, and UT New Pages and Updates

2010-12-05T10:52:00.000-08:00

I haven't worked on the website in a while...BUT I realized that I had not listed the new pages and updates for the past few months. Enjoy!

New Pages

Escambia County, Alabama - with one link from the Internet Archive

Wilcox County, Alabama - with one link from the Internet Archive

Escambia County, Florida - with one link from the Internet Archive

Bartholomew County, Indiana - with one link from the Internet Archive

Kosciusko County, Indiana - with one link from the Internet Archive

Beadle County, South Dakota - with one link from Genealogy Trails

Updates

Alabama - now with 10 out of 67 counties linked

Calhoun County, Alabama - one new link from the Internet Archive

Jefferson County, Alabama - 27 new link from the Internet Archive

Mobile County, Alabama - five new links from the Internet Archive

Yuba County, California - three new links from Yuba Roots

Florida - now with four out of 67 counties linked

Cook County, Illinois - two new links from the Internet Archive and Genealogy Today

Indiana - now with 27 out of 92 counties linked

LaPorte County, Indiana - one new link from the Internet Archive

Genesee County, New York - two new links from the Internet Archive and Genealogy Today

Hamilton County, Ohio - one new link from the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County

South Dakota - now with two out of 66 counties linked

Salt Lake County, Utah - one new link from Genealogy Today

Ancestry.com to Acquire iArchives

2010-09-23T06:28:00.001-07:00

Press release from Ancestry.com announcing plans to buy iArchives, which includes Footnote.com:

Leading Brand for American Historical Content

PROVO, Utah, September 23, 2010 – Ancestry.com Inc. (Nasdaq: ACOM) announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire iArchives, Inc. and its branded Web site, Footnote.com, a leading American History Web site, for approximately $27 million in a mix of Ancestry.com stock, cash and assumption of liabilities. This acquisition will provide the company with a complementary consumer brand, expanded content offerings, and enhanced digitization and image-viewing technologies.

iArchives digitizes and delivers high-quality images of American historical records of individuals involved in the Revolutionary War, Continental Congress, Civil War, and other US historical events to Footnote.com subscribers interested in early American roots. iArchives has digitized more than 65 million original source documents to date through its proprietary digitization process for paper, microfilm and microfiche collections.

“Footnote.com is highly complementary to Ancestry.com’s online family history offering,” said Tim Sullivan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ancestry.com. “By promoting Footnote to our Ancestry audience, we hope to expand its reach among researchers who care about early American records. iArchives also brings outstanding image-viewing technology and content digitization capabilities that will improve our leadership position in bringing valuable historical records to the market. We welcome the iArchives team to the Ancestry.com family.”

Upon completion of the transaction, iArchives will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ancestry.com. As part of the transaction, Ancestry.com currently expects to issue approximately 1.0 million shares of common stock. The transaction is subject to various closing conditions and is expected to close early in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Ancestry.com also announced today that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program of up to approximately $25 million of its common stock. Under the authorization, share repurchases may be made by the Company from time to time in the open market or through privately negotiated transactions depending on market conditions, share price and other factors and may include accelerated or forward or similar stock repurchases and/or Rule 10b5-1 plans. Part of the rationale for the repurchase is to offset dilution of equity resulting from the iArchives acquisition. No time limit was set for the completion of this program. The share repurchase program may be modified or discontinued at any time by the Board of Directors.

About Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com Inc. (Nasdaq: ACOM) is the world's largest online family history resource, with approximately 1.3 million paying subscribers. More than 5 billion records have been added to the site in the past 13 years. Ancestry users have created more than 19 million family trees containing over 1.9 billion profiles. Ancestry.com has local Web sites directed at nine countries, including its flagship Web site at www.ancestry.com.

About iArchives
iArchives is a leading digitization service provider that also operates Footnote.com, a subscription Web site that features searchable original documents, providing over 35,000 paying subscribers with a view of the events, places and people that shaped the American nation and the world. At Footnote.com, all are invited to come share, discuss, and collaborate on their discoveries with friends, family, and colleagues. For more information, visit www.footnote.com.

Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or to future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "appears," "may," "designed," "expect," "intend," "focus," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "should," "continue" or "work" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements include statements concerning among other things, the proposed transaction between Ancestry.com and iArchives, Inc., including the consummation and anticipated timing of the transaction as well as the expected benefits of the proposed transaction, and the effects of the proposed transaction on Ancestry.com, our subscriber base, our reach, our activities to enhance subscribers' experience, our business outlook, our leadership position and our opportunities and prospects for growth. These forward-looking statements are based on information available to us as of the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include a variety of factors, some of which are beyond our control. In particular, such risks and uncertainties include the risk that the transaction does not close when anticipated, or at all; difficulties encountered in integrating acquired businesses and retaining customers, and the additional difficulty of integration when continuing the acquired operation; the adverse impact of competitive product announcements; failure to achieve anticipated revenues and operating performance; changes in overall economic conditions; the loss of key employees; competitors’ actions; pricing and gross margin pressures; inability to control costs and expenses; and significant litigation.

Information concerning additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements is contained under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2010, and in discussions in other of our SEC filings.

These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date and we assume no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

ENG, SCT, CT, FL, IN, IA, MD, MA, MI, MN, NY, NC, SC, WA, and WI New Pages and Updates

2010-08-28T23:14:00.000-07:00

In the past month, the following new pages and updates have been added:

New Pages

Stirling Council Area, Scotland - with four links from SCRAN

Litchfield County, Connecticut - with one link from NEHGS

Orange County, Florida - with one link from Central Florida Memory

Elkhart County, Indiana - with one link from the Internet Archive

Washington County, Maryland - with one link from Maryland Digital Cultural Heritage and two from Western Maryland's Historical Library

Barnstable County, Massachusetts - with two links from Historic Map Works

Ontonagon County, Michigan - with two links from MattsonWorks

Clay County, Minnesota - with five links from the Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County

Dakota County, Minnesota - with one link from the Dakota County Historical Society

Pennington County, Minnesota - with 14 links from the Pennington County Historical Society

Cattaraugus County, New York - with one link from the Monroe County Library

Chemung County, New York - with one link from the Monroe County Library

Genesee County, New York - with five links from the Monroe County Library

Livingston County, New York - with three links from the Monroe County Library

Niagara County, New York - with one link from the Monroe County Library

Orleans County, New York - with three links from the Monroe County Library

Schuyler County, New York - with one link from the Monroe County Library

Seneca County, New York - with one link from the Monroe County Library

Steuben County, New York - with one link from the Monroe County Library

Wyoming County, New York - with one link from the Monroe County Library

Yates County, New York - with one link from the Monroe County Library

Spartanburg County, South Carolina - with nine links from the Internet Archive

Iron County, Wisconsin - with 34 links from MattsonWorks and two links from Ancestry

Sawyer County, Wisconsin - with two links from MattsonWorks

Vilas County, Wisconsin - with eight links from MattsonWorks

Updates

Yorkshire, England - one new link from the Internet Archive

Connecticut - one new link from Historic Maps Works; now with five out of 8 counties linked

Hartford County, Connecticut - two new links from Historic Map Works and four new links from Distant Cousin

New Haven County, Connecticut - one new link from Historic Map Works

New London County, Connecticut - one new link from Historic Map Works

Florida - now with three out of 67 counties linked

Indiana - now with 25 out of 92 counties linked

Allen County, Indiana - one new link from the Internet Archive

Vanderburgh County, Indiana - one new link from the Internet Archive

Wells County, Indiana - one new link from the Internet Archive

Polk County, Iowa - one new link from Iowa Digital Library

Maryland - now with four out of 23 counties plus the City of Baltimore linked

Allegany County, Maryland - one new link from Maryland Digital Cultural Heritage and one from Western Maryland's Historical Library

City of Baltimore, Maryland - 35 new links from the Archives of Maryland Online

Massachusetts - now with 11 out of 14 counties linked

Barnstable County, Massachusetts - one new link from Historic Map Works

Essex County, Massachusetts - nine new links from Memorial Hall Library

Middlesex County, Massachusetts - one new link from the Center for Lowell History

Suffolk County, Massachusetts - eight new links from Tufts Digital Collections & Archives and two new links from EveNDon

Michigan - now with 23 out of 83 counties linked

Gogebic County, Michigan - six new links from MattsonWorks

Saginaw County, Michigan - three new links from Google Books, seven new links from the Hathi Trust Digital Library, and two new links from the Internet Archive

Minnesota - now with six out of 87 counties linked

Hennepin County, Minnesota - one new link from Phillips Neighborhood Network and two new links from KinSource Archives

Ramsey County, Minnesota - one new link from KinSource Archives

New York - one new link from the Monroe County Library; now with 40 out of 62 counties plus New York City linked

Allegany County, New York - one new link from the Monroe County Library

Cayuga County, New York - one new link from the Monroe County Library

Chautauqua County, New York - one new link from the Monroe County Library

Erie County, New York - one new link from the Monroe County Library

Monroe County, New York - corrected numerous links due to the Monroe County Library changing some of their webpages; added 55 new links from the Monroe County Library

Onondaga County, New York - one new link from the Monroe County Library

Ontario County, New York - four new links from the Monroe County Library

Wayne County, New York - three new links from the Monroe County Library

Wake County, North Carolina - one new link from Wake County Public Libraries

South Carolina - now with three out of 46 counties linked

King County, Washington - one new link from the University of Washington

Wisconsin - now with 16 out of 72 counties linked

City Directories Online Course

2010-08-26T13:17:00.000-07:00

Family Tree University, a part of Family Tree Magazine, is offering an online course on city directories, called Exploring City Directories: How to Trace Your Family in Yesterday's Yellow Pages. You can read more about it, as well as sign up for it through Genealogy Insider, the blog for Family Tree Magazine.

UK Historical Directories Links

2010-08-02T12:10:00.000-07:00

Ancestry has a great article here about using its newly-updated UK City and County Directories, 1600-1900s. Now, you don't have to have a subscription to Ancestry to read the article, but of course, you do have to have one of the following subscriptions to access this database: a subscription to Ancestry.co.uk (available in the United Kingdom) OR a World Deluxe Membership if you have an Ancestry.com, Ancestry.ca, or some such other national Ancestry subscription. Of course, you can try the World Subscription for two weeks; just make sure you write down the phone number and call them to cancel in plenty of time (think of time zone differences and business hours).

I'm going to do something a little bit differently here. I'm going to share with you some of my trade secrets! ;-) As you have probably guessed, I am collecting a huge list of bookmarks of historical directories at both free and subscription websites, and as you probably can tell, it does take a great deal of time to get all those links added to my website. So here's a little freebie for you: I'm going to share my UK historical directories bookmarks with you, so you don't have to wait until they get on the UK pages! Shhh! This is just for you loyal readers who regularly visit this blog or have subscribed to it through e-mail or your favorite RSS reader.

United Kingdom Online Historical Directories - from my website
UK City and County Directories, 1600-1900s (through Ancestry's World Deluxe Subscription portal) - $
UK City and County Directories, 1600-1900s (through Ancestry's UK Subscription portal) - $
Bedfordshire Directories - Free
Turvey, Bedfordshire Directories - Free
Cambridge Blue Book - Free
Cumbria/Cumberland/Westmorland Directories - Free
Genhound - $
Kelly's Directory of Monmouthshire, 1901 - Free
Ringmer in Trade Directories - Free
Longford Directories - Free
1787 Nathaniel Jones Directory of Glasgow - Free
Glasgow Post Office Directories on Internet Archive - Free
Directories at ScotlandsFamily - Free
Ireland Directories (includes Northern Ireland) at Irish Family Research - $
Family Relatives Directories - $
Direct Resources - appears to be free
Links to UK Directories, provided by GenUKI - Free
London Street Name Changes - Free
Cerne Abbas Directory - Free
The Original Record - $

Happy Hunting!

MI, PA, and TN New Pages and Updates

2010-07-20T12:32:00.000-07:00

New Pages:

Delta County, Michigan - with 10 links from the Delta County Genealogical Society

Updates:

Michigan - now with 22 out of 83 counties linked

Ingham County, Michigan - six new links from the Capital Area District Library

Kalamazoo County, Michigan - one new link from kalamazoogenealogy.org, plus corrected some links from Ancestry, and updated the page to be consistent with the rest of the website

Macomb County, Michigan - no new links, but the page has been updated to be consistent with the rest of the website

Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania - with five new links from the Greater Philadelphia GeoHistory Network

Davidson County, Tennessee - one new link from Tennessee State Library and Archives

ENG, IN, IA, NC, TX, WI New Pages and Updates

2010-07-07T17:06:00.000-07:00

New Pages:

Middlesex, England - with one link from London Lives

Wells County, Indiana - with one link from the Internet Archive

Benton County, Iowa - with one link from the Marion Public Library

Black Hawk County, Iowa - with one link from the Marion Public Library

Buchanan County, Iowa - with one link from the Marion Public Library

Johnson County, Iowa - with one link from the Marion Public Library

Linn County, Iowa - with 20 links from the Marion Public Library

Marshall County, Iowa - with one link from the Marion Public Library

Tama County, Iowa - with one link from the Marion Public Library

Durham County, North Carolina - with one link from the Internet Archive

Randolph County, North Carolina - with one link from the Internet Archive

La Crosse County, Wisconsin - with 29 links from the La Crosse Public Library

Updates:

England - now with 7 out of 39 historical counties linked, plus the City of London

City of London, England - one new link from London Lives

Indiana - now with 24 out of 92 counties linked

Iowa - now with 14 out of 99 counties linked

North Carolina - now with 7 out of 100 counties linked

Travis County, Texas - one new link from the Austin Genealogical Society

Wisconsin - now with 13 out of 72 counties linked

AK, CA, CO, FL, IL, IN, IA, KY, MA, MO, NJ, NY, OH, RI, SD and WI New Pages and Updates

2010-06-27T23:52:00.000-07:00

I have added many links to the site over the past month; however, I haven't been very good about keeping my readers updated as to the changes and new pages. Here's hoping you find something to help your research along!

New Pages

San Benito County, California - with two links from Ancestry and one from Google Books

Fremont County, Colorado - with one link from GenealogyToday

Chautauqua County, New York - with 18 links from Western New York Legacy

Lewis County, New York - with one link from the Internet Archive

Lincoln County, South Dakota - with one link from GenealogyToday

Updates

Alaska - with one new link from GenealogyToday

California - now with 33 out of 59 counties linked

Los Angeles County - with one new link from GenealogyToday

Monterey County, California - with one new link from Google Books

Sacramento County, California - with one new link from GenealogyToday

San Mateo County, California - with one new link from Ancestry

Santa Clara County, California - with one new link from Google Books

Colorado - now with 13 out of 64 counties linked

Florida - with one new link from the Internet Archive

Illinois - with one new link from the Internet Archive

Cook County, Illinois - with one new link from GenealogyToday

Indiana - with one new link from the Internet Archive

LaPorte County, Indiana - with one new link from the Internet Archive

Tippecanoe County, Indiana - with one new link from the Internet Archive

Iowa - with one new link from the Internet Archive

Kentucky - with one new link from the Internet Archive

Bristol County, Massachusetts - with six new links from the Internet Archive and one from Google Books

Worcester County, Massachusetts - with two new links from GenealogyToday

Missouri - with one new link from the Internet Archive

Essex County, New Jersey - with three new links from the Internet Archive

New York - with one new link from the Internet Archive; now with 31 out of 62 counties and New York City linked

New York City, New York - with one new link from the Internet Archive

Summit County, Ohio - with one new link from GenealogyToday

Providence County, Rhode Island - with two links from Google Books

South Dakota - now with 1 out of 66 counties linked

Wisconsin - with two new links from the Internet Archive

Ancestry.ca Completes Collection of Canadian City and Area Directories, 1819-1906

2010-06-23T17:11:00.000-07:00

The following announcement is from Ancestry.ca, the Canadian version of the U.S.'s Ancestry.com. I did some checking, and those who have a World Deluxe Subscription at Ancestry.com will also be able to access this expanded city directories collection here.

---

7 Million Names Now Available For First Time

Pre-telephone era equivalent of Yellow Pages provides wealth of information on ancestors of millions of Canadians

June 22, 2010 (Toronto, ON) Ancestry.ca, Canada’s leading family history website, announces the completion of Canadian City and Area Directories, 1819-1906, a rich collection of more than 150,000 pages of historical records, the largest collection of historic Canadian directories available online. The collection includes the names of more than 7 million Canadians who lived during this 87- year-period of national growth.

The first release of City and Area Directories by Ancestry.ca in October of 2008 contained nearly 20,000 pages of records and 5.2 million names. Today’s completion adds a staggering 134,000 pages of records.

Almost anyone with an ancestor who lived in a Canadian town or city during the period from 1819 to 1906 will find an ancestor in the collection. Historically, these records were used in much the same way as we use Facebook today - they were finding aids that allowed people to stay connected.

City directories contain an alphabetical listing of citizens, giving the names of the heads of households, their addresses and occupations. When an ancestor is found a researcher can see their name, home or business address and usually an occupation. For added interest, a further search using the street name will find their neighbours, allowing users to build up a picture of what life was like in the area.

A city directory may also contain a business directory, street directory, governmental directory, and listings of town officers, schools, societies, churches, post offices and other miscellaneous records that help paint a clearer picture of one’s ancestors. *

Aside from finding one’s own ancestors within this collection, history enthusiasts will be able to find records of famous Canadians, including:

Sir John A. MacDonald - Canada’s first Prime Minister, listed living in Kingston, Ontario

Sir Sandford Fleming - Inventor and creator of world time zones is listed living at 213 Chapel Street in Ottawa in 1893, one of his many residences

William Lyon MacKenzie - The journalist, politician and rebel leader is listed living in Toronto and working as the editor of The Colonial Advocate

Louis Riel - Founder of the province of Manitoba and activist for Métis rights, listed as living in Elkirk

Karen Peterson, Marketing Director for Ancestry.ca, comments: “The breadth of information you can learn about your ancestors from records like City Directories will surprise many. They are a very powerful tool for researching family history because they can fill in the gaps between federal or provincial censuses, providing people with much clearer timelines and details about their ancestors and their lives.”

Breakdown of records by region:

Province	Records (Images)	Estimated Names
Ontario	84059	4202950
Quebec	33201	1660050
Nova Scotia	12566	628300
New Brunswick	11051	552550
National and Multi-Province	6201	310050
Manitoba	2514	125700
British Columbia	2016	100800
Newfoundland	1194	59700
Prince Edward Island	927	46350
Alberta	16	800
Total estimate	153745	7687250

To discover the lives of your own ancestors, visit www.ancestry.ca to let the journey begin.

Online Historical Directories Website Receiving Some Publicity

2010-05-28T22:01:00.000-07:00

The Online Historical Directories Website has been receiving some very nice publicity lately! First off, the site was mentioned in Volume 11, Number 9 of Nu? What's New?, The E-zine of Jewish Genealogy From Avotaynu, edited by Gary Mokotoff. Next, Pat Richley, a.k.a. DearMYRTLE, mentioned OHDW as a resource in her post, "City Directories - have you revisited this record group?" And in the August 2010 issue of Family Tree Magazine (recently mailed to subscribers), Sunny McClellan Morton includes the site as a resource in her article on church records, "Soul Searching."

Many thanks for your very kind mentions of this site!

Win a One-Year Subscription to Archives.com, Footnote.com, and NewspaperARCHIVE.com

2010-05-28T06:09:00.000-07:00

I've been a long-time subscriber to Woman's Day magazine and receive their e-newsletter as well, which usually includes various contests to win vacations, jewelry, cosmetics and the like. Imagine my surprise yesterday morning when I saw their featured contest was a one year's subscription to Archives.com, which includes access to partners Footnote.com and NewspaperARCHIVE.com!

While Archives.com does not have city directories in its collection, Footnote.com does. Ten lucky winners will be drawn after the contest ends July 24th. No purchase necessary. Go here to enter.

AL, IL, IN, KS, MI, PA, TN, THA, and WI New Pages and Updates

2010-05-25T22:37:00.000-07:00

New Pages:

Sedgwick County, Kansas - with two links from the Midwest Historical and Genealogical Society

Thailand - with one link from the Internet Archive

Updates:

Madison County, Alabama - one corrected/updated link from USGenWeb

Sangamon County, Illinois - one new link from University of Illinois at Springfield

Allen County, Indiana - one new link from the Internet Archive

LaPorte County, Indiana - one new link from the Internet Archive

Wabash County, Indiana - one new link from the Internet Archive

Wayne County, Indiana - one new link from the Internet Archive

Kansas - now with 7 out of 105 counties linked

Saginaw County, Michigan - one new link from the Internet Archive

Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania - one new link from the Internet Archive

Davison County, Tennessee - one new link from the Tennessee State Library and Archives

Dane County, Wisconsin - one new link from the Internet Archives

WA New Pages and Updates

2010-05-07T19:09:00.000-07:00

The Washington State Digital Archives has been indexing city and county directories for some time now. Although I have been watching for an announcement on their blog for when these have been placed online, they apparently have not publicized it. I took a closer look today and noticed that several directories are now online, listed under the "Miscellaneous Family History" record collection:

Benton, Franklin, and Kittitas County Directories, Polk, 1911-2
Benton, Franklin, and Kittitas County Directories, Polk, 1915-6
Ellensburg and Kittitas County Directory, Polk, 1923-4
Lewis and Pacific County Directories, Polk, 1914-5
Lewis and Pacific County Directories, Polk, 1915-6
Seattle City Directory, Polk, 1893
Thurston and Mason County Directories, Polk, 1921-2

I have added all the links to the appropriate county pages: Benton, Franklin, King, Kittitas, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, and Thurston. Benton and Pacific are new pages for this site, so now Washington has 22 of its 39 counties linked.

IL, IN, and TN New Pages and Updates

2010-04-25T22:21:00.000-07:00

New Pages

Cass County, Indiana - with one link from Internet Archive

Shelby County, Tennessee - with three links from the Shelby County Register of Deeds

Updates

Peoria County, Illinois - six new links from Illinois Ancestors

Indiana - now with 22 out of 92 counties linked

Allen County, Indiana - five new links from Internet Archive

Tennessee - now with 2 out of 95 counties linked

More California Directories

2010-04-25T21:33:00.000-07:00

I have added a TON of links for Sacramento County, California! In fact, all but one are new, and they come from the Golden Nugget Library, San Francisco Genealogy, Google Books, the Internet Archive, and Ancestry. Altogether now, there are 53 new links ranging from 1855 to 1947!

There are three new links from Ancestry on the San Francisco City-County page.

I've created a new page, Monterey County, California, which includes 10 links from Ancestry.

BC, CA, IL, IN, MA, MI, NY, ON, QC, TN New Pages and Updates

2010-03-27T19:03:00.000-07:00

New Pages

Yolo County, California - with one link from Ancestry

Jo Daviess County, Illinois - with one link from Internet Archive

Morgan County, Indiana - with one link from Internet Archive

Updates

City of Vancouver, British Columbia - one new link from Internet Archive

California - now with 30 out of 58 counties linked

Illinois - now with 26 out of 102 counties linked

Shelby County, Illinois - one new link from Internet Archive

Indiana - now with 21 out of 92 counties linked

Allen County, Indiana - five new links from Internet Archive

Worcestor County, Massachusetts - one new link each from Internet Archive and Google Books

Kalamazoo County, Michigan - one new link each from Internet Archive and Google Books

Erie County, New York - one new link from Internet Archive

New York City, New York - three new links from Internet Archive

City of Ottawa, Ontario - five new links from Internet Archive

City of Toronto, Ontario - eight new links from Internet Archive

Quebec - six new links from Internet Archive

Davison County, Tennessee - one new link from Internet Archive

CA, IL, IN, KS, MA, NC, ON, OR, PA, TX New Pages and Updates

2010-03-03T01:08:00.000-08:00

More directories from the Internet Archive have been linked!

New Pages:

Porter County, Indiana - with three links

Wilson County, Kansas - with one link

Frontenac County, Ontario - with one link

Updates:

Contra Costa County, California - one new link

Edgar County, Illinois - one new link

Shelby County, Illinois - one new link

Wayne County, Indiana - two new links

Kansas - now with six out of 105 counties linked

Suffolk County, Massachusetts - two new links

Wake County, North Carolina - two new links

Ontario - now with 25 out of 50 census districts linked

Multnomah County, Oregon - two new links

Mercer County, Pennsylvania - one new link

Galveston County, Texas - one new link

AR, CA, IN, ME, MN, NC, OR, ONT, PA, and WA New Pages and Updates

2010-02-25T07:10:00.000-08:00

Here are recent developments on the Online Historical Directories website:

New Pages:

Greene County, Arkansas - with one link from the Internet Archive

Riverside County, California - with 16 links from Ancestry

Wayne County, Indiana - with one link from the Internet Archive

Ramsey County, Minnesota - with one link from the Internet Archive

Multnomah County, Oregon - with one link from the Internet Archive

Updates:

Arkansas - now with 10 out of 80 counties linked

California - now with 29 out of 58 counties linked

Indiana - now with 18 out of 92 counties linked

Delaware County, Indiana - one new link from the Internet Archive

Cumberland County, Maine - one new link from the Internet Archive

Minnesota - now with three out of 89 counties linked

Oregon - now with two out of 36 counties linked

City of Ottawa, Ontario - one new link from the Internet Archive

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania - one new link from the Internet Archive

Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania - one new link from the Internet Archive

Buncome County, North Carolina - two new links from the Internet Archive

King County, Washington - one new link from Washington Rural Heritage

More CA Updates

2010-02-17T22:35:00.000-08:00

Even more updates to California pages from Ancestry's new 1940 and 1950 Census Substitute databases!

San Mateo County, California - one new link

Santa Barbara County, California - two new links

Santa Clara County, California - two new links

More CA Updates

2010-02-15T00:29:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple more updates to California pages from Ancestry's new 1940 and 1950 Census Substitute databases:

Kern County, California - four new links

Los Angeles County, California - eight new links

CA Updates

2010-02-08T08:01:00.000-08:00

Here are more updates to California pages from Ancestry's new 1940 and 1950 Census Substitute databases, which are actually city and telephone directories from these decades:

Alameda County, California - two new links

Butte County, California - three new links

Contra Costa, California - two new links

Imperial County, California - three new links

AL, AZ, and AR Updates

2010-01-29T22:25:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned earlier, Ancestry has added many more city directories to its collection, mainly from the late 1940s and the 1950s. Here are some recent updates:

Jefferson County, Alabama - four new links

Mobile County, Alabama - three new links

Montgomery County, Alabama - one new link

Maricopa County, Arizona - two new links

Pima County, Arizona - two new links

Pulaski County, Arkansas - three new links

Union County, Arkansas - four new links

CA, MO, and WA New Pages and Updates

2010-01-29T21:35:00.000-08:00

I finally added all the rest of links (18 more) to directories from Ancestry to the Orange County, California page. I also added 21 free links to county and telephone directories from the Fullerton Public Library. It took me a loooong time to get this page completed because Ancestry divided up the directories for this county into three parts and I had to check each part to see which communities it contained so I could label the links correctly. I now have only 10 more California counties' directories at Ancestry to link!

I also added a link from the Hathi Trust Digital Library to the King County, Washington page.

I created the Boone County, Missouri page and added a link to it from the Hathi Trust Digital Library. This now makes five counties, plus the City of St. Louis, linked for Missouri.

Atlanta, GA Updates

2010-01-28T06:19:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my friend, Amir Dekel, for pointing out the many city directories for Atlanta, Georgia on the Internet Archive! I just added all 30 of them to the Fulton County, Georgia page.

News and General Updates

2010-01-24T18:21:00.000-08:00

It's been over two weeks since you've seen an update on this website and I just wanted to let you know what was going on. Several things have delayed me from posting any updated information to the blog:

1) I started the Online Historical Newspapers website and its corresponding blog and have been busy getting a lot of links and pages set up on that.

2) You may recall that I said a while back that I was changing the name of the website from "Online City, County, and Rural Directories" to "Online Historical Directories". I've been doing a lot of behind-the-scenes work to change the names of each of the pages (several hundred) on this site, so of course, that has been taking up time. The reason I've been working on this rather than adding more directories links is that Cyndi Howells of Cyndi's List has been adding links to the pages on this website to her Cyndi's List website, and I want my website's pages to look uniform and consistent.

3) My laptop is not working well...it's in its dying days. I used to work on my Directories and Newspapers websites on my laptop while I was watching TV in the evenings, or while my son or husband was using the main computer. Now, we're all juggling to use the one computer and I can't work on the sites in the evenings during TV time. I'm looking at getting another laptop or netbook, so I hope to resolve this situation in a few months.

I actually have been adding some links to the Orange County, California page, but am not quite done, so have not made an official update yet. Thank you all for your patience and continued readership!

P.S. You may have heard that Ancestry has added quite a few more city directories to their subscription website and labeled it the 1950 Census Substitute. If you have a subscription to Ancestry or can access it through your local library, check it out to see if there are more directories added to your ancestral locations!

Hawaii New Page

2010-01-08T07:34:00.000-08:00

I've just added a new state page for Hawaii, with three Polk directories from the days when Hawaii was still a kingdom! These come from Ulukau, the Hawaiian Electronic Library and are free to view. I know that Ancestry has city directories for Honolulu as well and these will be added in the future. Also, the Hawaii GenWeb site has transcribed online historical medical directories. So stay tuned for these in the future.

Hawaii online historical directories are very difficult to find, so if you know of any other than the above resources, please e-mail me.

Kentucky Updates

2010-01-06T21:09:00.000-08:00

I've added one new directory to each of the following pages: Kentucky state page and the Fayette County, Kentucky page. These are from the Kentuckiana Digital Collection, which is just amazing. Not many directories, but lots of other great digital resources! Check it out!

What's Coming in 2010 - and a New Website!

2009-12-30T12:33:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

While I don't have any new pages or updates to report (I've been busy with holiday happenings and family gatherings, as I'm sure many of you are), I would like to let you know of some things to watch for in 2010.

Today I received an email from the New England Historical and Genealogical Society. They have added the following directories to their subscription website:

Cleveland, Ohio: Boyd’s Directory, 1857
Medford, Mass.: 1930
Mobile, Ala.: 1838
Norwalk, Ohio: 1875
Sacramento, Calif.: 1882
Toronto, Ont.: 1856

Don't have a subscription to NEHGS? See if your local library does. Mine, the Spokane Public Library, recently added an in-building subscription.

Look for free Polk directories for cities in Washington State to appear on the Washington State Digital Archives website sometime in 2010 (I'll send out a notice).

Ancestry has announced the following databases will be available in 2010.

Scottish city directories, 1800s–1900s - probably World Deluxe subscription and/or UK subscription
Canadian city and area directories, 1800s–1900s - probably World Deluxe and/or Canadian subscription
1950s U.S. city directories (billed as 1950 census substitute) - U.S. Deluxe subscription

Again, check your local library to see if they have Ancestry's Library Edition (US libraries) to access city directories (and many other records and databases) for free.

And finally, while this has nothing to do with historical directories, I did want to announce to you, my readers of another new website I've started, the Online Historical Newspapers Website. Like the Online Historical Directories Website, you'll find links digitized historical newspapers online available for free or through subscription. This site will not link to transcribed articles or obituaries, but to whole digitized newspapers only! And like the directories site, there is a corresponding blog for the newspapers site to keep you updated of changes and additions. Please add the site and the blog to your list of resources!

Happy New Year to you and yours. May 2010 see the coming down of brick walls and successful research!

AK, CA, DC, IL, and WLS New Pages and Updates

2009-12-22T00:04:00.000-08:00

With the busyness of the holidays, I haven't done too much with the site, but here are a few new pages and updates for you:

New Pages:

Caernarvonshire, Wales - with 14 links from the Bangor Civic Society (originally listed on the Wales page)

Glamorgonshire, Wales - with one link from the Historical Directories site (not to be confused with my site, the Online Historical Directories website!)

Updates:

Alaska - 13 new links, all from the Alaska-Yukon Territory Business Directory, Polk, 1923-4 at USGenWeb

Orange County, California - three new links from the 1936 County Directory at Ancestry

San Mateo County, California - one new update from the Online Archive of California

District of Columbia - one new update from Genealogy Trails

Cook County, Illinois - the 1928-9 Polk Street Directory from the Chicago Historical Society

Wales - now organized by historical county and links moved to the new Caernarvonshire page; also the page has a new URL, so if you've bookmarked or otherwise linked to it, please make the necessary changes

---

Finally, a bit of news: if you have an Ancestry subscription or use the Ancestry Library Edition, you'll discover that they've made it easier to browse their directories database (as well as use their many other databases) by state, then city or county, and finally by year using a drop down menu on the right. For more information, read this post from their blog.

GA, LA, and TN Updates

2009-12-13T10:18:00.000-08:00

I have found some more links at state digital archives websites. Also, Taneya Koonce notified me that the Tennessee State Library and Archives website has a list of free online directories for the city of Nashville. Some of them are held by the library and others are at other websites.

Updates:

Georgia - one new link from the Digital Library of Georgia

Orleans Parish, Louisiana - one new link from the LOUISiana Digital Library

Davidson County, Tennessee - four new links from the Tennessee State Library and Archives website, four new links from Google Books, one new link from Jeanne Johnson's website, and one new link from EveNDon.

CA, ON, WI, and WY New Pages and Updates

2009-12-06T19:40:00.000-08:00

Here are more California directories from Ancestry, as well as some I found for Ontario at public library websites after reading an article in the latest issue of Internet Genealogy. I also discovered a link to the Wisconsin Historical Society Digital Collection on a genealogy blog I read and found some more directories there.

New Pages:

Napa County, California - with 12 links from Ancestry

San Luis Obispo County, California - with five links from Ancestry

Brant County, Ontario - with one link from the Brantford Public Library

Durham Region, Ontario - with one link from the Whitby Public Library

York Region, Ontario - with one link from the Pickering Public Library

Sauk County, Wisconsin - with two links from the Wisconsin Historical Society Digital Collection

Updates:

California - now with 28 out of 59 counties linked

Alameda County, California - 17 new links from Ancestry

Contra Costa County, California - nine new links from Ancestry

Merced County, California - 12 new links from Ancestry

Stanislaus County, California - nine new links from Ancestry

Sutter County, California - five new links from Ancestry

Yuba County, California - five new links from Ancestry

Ontario - now with 23 out of 50 census districts linked

Oxford County, Ontario - with two links from the Oxford County Library

Simcoe County, Ontario - with one link from the Innisfil Public Library

Wisconsin - now with 12 out of 72 counties linked

Sheridan County, Wyoming - one new link from Ancestry

MI and ON Updates

2009-11-29T21:57:00.000-08:00

I decided to take a break from California directories at Ancestry, and instead added some from Michigan and Ontario at Ancestry, Google Books, and the Hathi Trust Digital Library. There are so many wonderful resources out there, that when I get bored adding links from one place, I can mix it up by working with a different resource or a different location...or both!

Updates:

Calhoun County, Michigan - one new link from Google Books and 11 new links from Ancestry

Lenawee County, Michigan - one new link from Hathi Trust Digital Library, five new links from Ancestry, and one new link from Google Books

Washtenaw County, Michigan - 14 new links from Google, 22 new links from Ancestry, and 9 new links from the Hathi Trust Digital Library

Bruce County, Ontario - one new link from Google Books

Wellington County, Ontario - one new link from Google Books

CA New Pages and Updates

2009-11-27T19:33:00.000-08:00

New Pages:

Imperial County, California - with seven links from Ancestry

Updates:

California - with 26 out of 59 counties linked

Contra Costa County, California - added one link from Ancestry

Los Angeles County, California - added one new link from Ancestry

San Joaquin County, California - added three new links from Ancestry

San Mateo County, California - added 11 new links from Ancestry

Santa Clara County, California - added 14 new links from Ancestry

Another New CA Page and Update

2009-11-26T10:02:00.000-08:00

I've just added the Fresno County, California page to the website with 16 links from Ancestry, and I've updated the California page to reflect that I have 25 out of 59 counties listed. There are many, many California directories available from many resources--free and subscription--on the web, so if your years or counties aren't represented yet, stay tuned!

CA New Page and Update

2009-11-21T22:47:00.000-08:00

After taking a break for a bit, I'm back adding links. Here's the latest...

New Page:

Humboldt County, California - with 10 links from Ancestry

Update:

California - now with 24 out of 59 counties linked

Corrections Made to Jefferson Co., AL Page

2009-11-07T16:12:00.000-08:00

I do make mistakes on my website from time to time. And I DO appreciate when someone points them out! The last thing I want is an error or broken link to frustrate my visitors.

Thanks go to Ben Peterson of the Southern History Department at the Birmingham (Alabama) Public Library. I had found two links to Birmingham city directories at Google Books and had posted them on the Jefferson County, Alabama page. Somehow I didn't take the time to read the title page, like I normally do. If I had, I would have realized that these city directories were for Birmingham, England! Ben was kind enough to point this out to me, and I have made the necessary corrections.

To view Birmingham, Alabama directory links, visit my Jefferson County, Alabama page.

To view Birmingham, England directory links, visit my Historic County of Warwickshire, England page (this page is new to the site).

IL, ME, MD, MA, MI, NY, OH, and WI New Pages and Updates

2009-11-03T20:03:00.000-08:00

Here are more updates to historical directories found at the New England Historical and Genealogical Society website:

New Pages:

Androscoggin County, Maine - with one directory from NEHGS

Updates:

Cook County, Illinois - three new directories from NEHGS

Maine - now with eight out of 16 counties linked

City of Baltimore, Maryland - one new directory from NEHGS

Suffolk County, Massachusetts - one new directory from NEHGS

Wayne County, Michigan - two new directories from NEHGS; also corrected links to three directories from the Hathi Trust Digital Library

New York City, New York - six new directories from NEHGS

Rensselaer County, New York - one new directory from NEHGS

Hamilton County, Ohio - one new directory from NEHGS

Lucas County, Ohio - one new directory from NEHGS

Dane County, Wisconsin - one new directory from NEHGS

Summit County, OH New Page

2009-11-01T13:39:00.000-08:00

At long last! I have completed the page for Summit County, Ohio with 93 links from the Akron-Summit County Public Library website and one from the New England Historic and Genealogical Society. There are probably directories for this county at Ancestry, as well, but this is a great start! Also, this now means my Ohio page has 30 out of 88 counties linked!

Thanks to Joe Beine for the tip! Check out his wonderful resources here. He and his helpful websites have recently been featured in an article in Discovering Family History (November/December 2009 issue). Congratulations, Joe!

IL, MA, MO, NH, NY, OH, and QC New Pages and Updates

2009-10-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

I'm taking another break from adding links from Ancestry and have been adding some from the New England Historic and Genealogical Society, some to St. Louis, Missouri directories at Google (thanks, John!) AND from the Akron-Summit County (Ohio) Public Library. The page for the latter is not quite ready; it takes some time to download each directory (and there are a lot!) to view the details (location[s] covered; compiler; verify the publishing year). Meanwhile, here are the latest I've added from the NEHGS site, which is a subscription website, as well as the St. Louis directories. Stay tuned for the Summit County, Ohio page to be added in the next week or so.

New Pages:

St. Louis County, Missouri - with one link from Google Books

Carroll County, New Hampshire - with one link from NEHGS

Franklin County, New York - with one link from NEGHS

Lake County, Ohio - with one link from NEGHS

Lorain County, Ohio - with one link from NEHGS

Portage County, Ohio - with one link from NEHGS

Updates:

Cook County, Illinois - four new links from NEHGS

Worcester County, Massachusetts - three new links from NEHGS

Missouri - now with five out of 74 counties linked plus the City of St. Louis

City of St. Louis, Missouri - three new links from Google Books

New Hampshire - now with seven out of 10 counties linked

Cheshire County, New Hampshire - one new link from NEHGS

Cuyahoga County, New Hampshire - one new link from NEHGS

New York - now with 24 out of 62 counties plus New York City linked

New York City, New York - one new link from NEHGS

Ohio - now with 29 out of 88 counties linked

Erie County, Ohio - one new link from NEHGS

Huron County, Ohio - one new link form NEHGS

Medina County, Ohio - one new link from NEHGS

Stark County, Ohio - one new link from NEHGS

Quebec - one new link from NEHGS

San Diego County, CA New Page

2009-10-25T09:44:00.000-07:00

I finally completed the page for San Diego County, California which includes 34 links from Ancestry and one link from the San Diego Historical Society. I have looked all over to find websites that might have online directories for this county, without success, with the exception of the historical society. If you know of any, please let me know.

Butte County, CA and other CA New Pages and Updates

2009-10-21T06:48:00.001-07:00

In my last post, I mentioned that many public libraries are scanning and putting their local directories online. On a whim last night, I googled "butte county library" just to see if there were more directories for that county than what I had found on Ancestry (my husband's Midkiff ancestors were there in the early twentieth century). To my delight, I found that the Butte County Library district had indeed scanned and uploaded directories in .pdf format to the Internet. One directory included several surrounding counties, so here are the new pages and updates to reflect my finds:

New Pages:

Colusa County, California - with two links from Ancestry and one from the Butte County Library

Sutter County, California - with two links from Ancestry and one from the Butte County Library

Tehama County, California - with two links from Ancestry and one from the Butte County Library

Yuba County, California - with two links from Ancestry and one from the Butte County Library

Updates:

California - now with 22 out of 58 counties linked

Butte County, California - 14 new links from Butte County Library

If you have ancestors from San Diego County, California, stay tuned for the release of that page in the near future!

A Change in Name

2009-10-21T06:38:00.000-07:00

I've decided to change the name of the website to Online Historical Directories, rather than Online City, County, and Rural Directories. The reason is that "city, county, and rural" are only a part of the historical directories I'm linking to. There are farm, church, business, community, medical, voter, school, telephone, and lodge directories, as examples.

You'll still see "city, county, and rural" on many pages until I get them changed over, but I feel the term "historical" is more accurate and encompasses the variety of directories that I'm finding online.

I'm still stunned at the amount of directories I have found online, both for free and at subscription websites. What I have linked to so far on the website is really only the tip of the iceberg! We are so fortunate to be living in this digital age with access to resources becoming easier and easier.

Many public library districts are scanning and placing their directories online, because they're finding that not only is it not horribly expensive to do so, but it can be done in small, do-able chunks of time. Also, the images don't take up a ton of expensive web space, especially if they are done in .pdf format. Even smaller public library districts have been able to put their local directories online because of these advantages, and I'm finding a plethora of resources out there that I'm very eager to share with you.

I appreciate your patience in getting the resources you're specifically looking for linked on the site. If there is ever a specific location that you would like to see linked sooner than later, drop me a line and I'll be happy to work on getting "your" location up and running!

New City Directories in the NEHGS Digital Library

2009-10-21T06:19:00.000-07:00

If you have a subscription to the New England Historical and Genealogical Society's online digital library, you'll be interested to learn they have added to their collection of online city directories. Their new directories include:

Albany, N.Y.: 1844
Baltimore, Md.: Matchett’s Baltimore directory, 1829
Keene, N.H.: 1871
Los Angeles, Calif.: early telephone directory, 1882
New York, N.Y.: Longworth’s city directory, 1840.

I'll be adding links to these on the appropriate pages on my website soon.

Happy Hunting!

IN, KS, KY, ME, MI, NE, NH, NY, OH, OK, PA, VT, VA, WA New Pages and Updates

2009-10-11T18:22:00.000-07:00

Here are the latest new pages and updates. Most are from Family Tree Connection. I have added all the city and telephone directories from that site, but there are many church, school, and other types of directories to be added at another time. Here's hoping you find some ancestors!

New Pages:

Whiteside County, Illinois - with one link from Family Tree Connection

Reno County, Kansas - with one link from Family Tree Connection

Clark County, Kentucky - with one link from Family Tree Connection

Garrard County, Kentucky - with one link from Family Tree Connection

Franklin County, Maine - with one link from Family Tree Connection

Kennebec County, Maine - with one link from Family Tree Connection

Somerset County, Maine - with one link from Family Tree Connection

Manistee County, Michigan - with one link from Family Tree Connection

Mason County, Michigan - with one link from Family Tree Connection

Grafton County, New Hampshire - with one link from Family Tree Connection

Allen County, Ohio - with one link from Family Tree Connection

Trumbull County, Ohio - with one link from Family Tree Connection

Wyandot County, Ohio - with one link from Family Tree Connection

Ellis County, Oklahoma - with one link from Family Tree Connection

Cambria County, Pennsylvania - with one link from Family Tree Connection

Indiana County, Pennsylvania - with one link from Family Tree Connection

Somerset County, Pennsylvania - with one link from Family Tree Connection

Botetourt County, Virginia - with one link from Family Tree Connection

Updates:

Illinois - now with 24 out of 102 counties linked

LaSalle County, Illinois - one new link from Family Tree Connection

Montgomery County, Indiana - one new link from Family Tree Connection and eight new links from Ancestry

Kansas - now with five out of 105 counties linked

Kentucky - now with ten out of 120 counties linked

Madison County, Kentucky - one new link from Family Tree Connection

Maine - now with seven out of 16 counties linked

Michigan - now with 21 out of 83 counties linked

Lenawee County, Michigan - one new link from Hathi Trust Digital Library

Douglas County, Nebraska - one new link from Family Tree Connection

New Hampshire - now with six out of ten counties linked

Belknap County, New Hampshire - two new links from Family Tree Connection

Sullivan County, New Hampshire - one new link from Family Tree Connection

New York - now with 25 out of 62 counties plus New York City linked

Otsego County, New York - one new link from Family Tree Connection

Ohio - now with 26 out of 88 counties linked

Oklahoma - now with three out of 88 counties linked

Pennsylvania - now with 22 out of 70 counties linked

Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania - one new link from Family Tree Connection

Windsor County, Vermont - one new link from Family Tree Connection

Virginia - now with four out of 134 counties and independent cities linked

King County, Washington - one new link from Hathi Trust Digital Library

AL, GA, IA, KY, MA, MO, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, ON, PA New Pages and Updates

2009-10-08T20:54:00.000-07:00

I've been taking a break from adding California directories from Ancestry, and instead have been adding directories from Family Tree Connections. These are nice because most of them feature small communities, rather than the large cities one sees at other directory databases and websites.

New Pages:

Polk County, Georgia - with two links from Family Tree Connections

Humboldt County, Iowa - with two links from Family Tree Connections

Union County, Iowa - with one link from Family Tree Connections

Madison County, Kentucky - with one link from Family Tree Connections

Franklin County, Massachusetts - with one link from Family Tree Connections

Callaway County, Missouri - with one link from Family Tree Connections

Morris County, New Jersey - with one link from Family Tree Connections

Washington County, New York - with one link from Family Tree Connections

Surry County, North Carolina - with one link from Family Tree Connections

Crawford County, Ohio - with one link from Family Tree Connections

Medina County, Ohio - with one link from Family Tree Connections

Peel County, Ontario - with one link from Family Tree Connections

Simcoe County, Ontario - with one link from Family Tree Connections

York County, Pennsylvania - with one link from Family Tree Connections

Clark County, Wisconsin - with one link from Family Tree Connections

Barron County, Wisconsin - with one link from Family Tree Connections

Updates:

Georgia - now with six out of 83 counties and city-counties linked

Iowa - now with seven out of 99 counties linked

Kentucky - now with eight out of 120 counties linked

Calhoun County, Alabama - one new link from Family Tree Connections

Massachusetts - now with ten out of 14 counties linked

Missouri - now with five out of 114 counties plus St. Louis linked

Hillsborough County, New Hampshire - two new links from Family Tree Connections

Merrimack County, New Hampshire - two new links from Family Tree Connections

New Jersey - now with 11 out of 21 counties linked

New York - now with 24 out of 62 counties plus New York City linked

New York City, New York - one new link from Family Tree Connections

North Carolina - now with five out of 100 counties linked

Ohio - now with 23 out of 88 counties linked

Ontario - now with 20 out of 50 census districts linked

Pennsylvania - now with 19 out of 67 counties linked

Lebanon County, Pennsylvania - one new link from Family Tree Connections

Wisconsin - now with 11 out of 72 counties linked

CA, DE, NJ, and VA New Pages and Updates

2009-10-04T11:18:00.000-07:00

Way back when, I promised to dig out the links to city directories at some now-obsolete free city directory websites archived at the Wayback Machine. Please be patient with these links, as the pages load slowly, and some do not load at all. There were some directories I could not access at all, which is a shame. Many of these sites had great resources at one time.

I have also added more California directories links from Ancestry, and still have many more to add from that site. And there is a link from Family Tree Connection, a smaller subscription-based genealogy website (sometimes better known by its parent company, Genealogy Today).

New Pages:

Butte County, California - with six links from Ancestry

Updates:

California - now with 18 counties linked

Calaveras County, California - two new links from Ancestry

Merced County, California - two new links from Ancestry

San Joaquin County, California - 37 new links from Ancestry; directories span 1856 to 1972!

San Mateo County, California - 18 new links from Ancestry

Stanislaus County, California - two new links from Ancestry

Tuolumne County, California - two new links from Ancestry

New Castle County, Delaware - one new link from Delaware City Directory via the Wayback Machine

Essex County, New Jersey - one new link from Family Tree Connection

Norfolk, Virginia - one new link from Virginia City Directory via the Wayback Machine

CA New Pages and Updates

2009-09-30T06:49:00.000-07:00

California, here we come! I've been busy adding links to California directories found at Ancestry and elsewhere. There are many, many more to be added, not just from these resources, but from around the Internet. If you don't see the county of your choice listed, or the group of years listed that you need, be assured that they will likely be added in the near future!

New Pages:

Kern County, California - with 13 links from Ancestry

Madera County, California - with six links from Ancestry

Merced County, California - with 18 links from Ancestry

Santa Barbara County, California - with 50 links from Ancestry, spanning the years 1886 to 1976

Updates:

California - one new link each from the Golden Nugget Library and the San Francisco Genealogy website; now with 17 counties linked

Calaveras County, California - three new links from the Golden Nugget Library and one from the San Francisco Genealogy website

Los Angeles County, California - five new links from Ancestry

San Bernardino County, California - 24 new links from Ancestry

San Joaquin County, California - six new links from the Golden Nugget Library and one from the San Francisco Genealogy website

Stanislaus County, California - three new links from the Golden Nugget Library and one from the San Francisco Genealogy website

Tuolumne County, California - three new links from the Golden Nugget Library and one from the San Francisco Genealogy website

AB, AL, AR, CO, CT, IL, ME, MI, PA New Pages and Updates

2009-09-25T05:52:00.000-07:00

Although I haven't posted anything lately on this blog, I have been busy adding links to the site! Whenever I had five or 10 minutes to spare, I'd add a few more links. Now that I have my main computer repaired after four months, I'm hoping to be able to work more on this project. Here the new pages and updates I've added in the last two and a half weeks:

New Pages:

Camrose County, Alberta - with 13 links from Peel's Prairie Provinces and two links from CanadaGenWeb

Carroll County, Arkansas - with one link from Ancestry

Craighead County, Arkansas - with four links from Ancestry and one from BYU Digital Books

Garland County, Arkansas - with eight links from Ancestry and one from BYU Digital Books

Sebastian County, Arkansas - with four links from Ancestry and one from BYU Digital Books

Union County, Arkansas - with five links from Ancestry and one from BYU Digital Books

Washington County, Arkansas - with four links from Ancestry and one from BYU Digital Books

McDonough County, Illinois - with one link from BYU Digital Books

Updates:

Mobile County, Alabama - two new links from BYU Digital Books

Alberta - added link to Camrose County; now with six counties/regions/cities linked, plus 13 links to province-wide directories

Arkansas - with one new links from BYU Digital Books and now with nine counties linked

Hempstead County, Arkansas - two new links; one from BYU Digital Books, and the other from Ancestry

Jefferson County, Alabama - two new links from BYU Digital Books

Montgomery County, Alabama - one new link from BYU Digital Books

Pulaski County, Arkansas - 18 new links from Ancestry and one from BYU Digital Books

Weld County, Colorado - one new link from BYU Digital Books

New Haven, Connecticut - five new links from WorldVitalRecords

Illinois - now with 23 counties linked, plus three links from EveNDon

Knox County, Maine - one new link from Ancestry and two from BYU Digital Books

Kent County, Michigan - one new link from BYU Digital Books

Lebanon County, Pennsylvania - one new link from BYU Digital Books

Harris County, Texas - two new links from BYU Digital Books

Ancestry and Footnote - News About City Directories

2009-09-09T20:48:00.000-07:00

Ancestry has added more city directories to its already great collection. From their news release today:

U.S. City Directories Update, 1950 - 1969
City directories can be an amazing resource for tracing ancestors between census years—or, in this case, tracing more contemporary ancestors who lived past the 1930 census—the last census to be made available online.

We’ve added more than 800 city directories from the 1950s and 60s, from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine and California.

Also, as part of its celebration of New York's 400th anniversary, they have released several database collections, including:

City directories for Albany, Buffalo, New York City, Niagara Falls, Rochester, Watertown and White Plains: Most of these directories are from the 20th century, but some of the New York City directories go back as far as 1833.

Footnote released the following info earlier this week. While not adding more directories lately, they do want people to know about their collection:

You'll find the one of the best collections of City Directories on the web

Featuring over 2 million pages, the City Directories Collection on Footnote.com has records dating back to 1785. Before phone books came into the picture, many cities and towns published directories of their residents. These valuable records often contain:

The names of the husband and wife
Occupation and name of employer
Addresses
and more.

View a list of our City Directories today.

Today Harold Henderson mentioned on his blog some quirks of Footnote's city directories that are pretty important to notice.

If you don't have subscriptions to either website, many public libraries have Ancestry available for free onsite. Also, most Family History Centers have Footnote (and WorldVitalRecords, which also has many city directories) available for free at their locations as well!

AZ New Page and Updates

2009-09-07T21:30:00.000-07:00

I've been working on the Arizona pages lately and added all the links I found at Ancestry for this state. I also found many links in the USGenWeb Archives and some local projects like MyCochise and AZClips. There are many more links at the USGenWeb Archives for Arizona counties, so look for them to be added in the future.

New Page:

Cochise County, Arizona - with one link each from EveNDon and the Internet Archive, 101 links from the USGenWeb Archives, 22 links from MyCochise, and six from Ancestry

Updates:

Arizona - now with two statewide links (one each from EveNDon and the Internet Archive) and with three counties linked

Maricopa County, Arizona - now with two links each from EveNDon and the Internet Archive, one from DistantCousin, seven from AZClips, and six from Ancestry

Pima County, Arizona - now with two links each from EveNDon and the Internet Archive, and three from Ancestry

Ireland and United Kingdom New Pages and Updates

2009-09-03T18:14:00.000-07:00

New Pages:

Berkshire, England - one link moved from England page

Buckinghamshire, England - one link moved from England page

Cumberland, England - one link moved from England page

London, England - with one link from EveNDon and one link moved from England page

Oxfordshire, England - one link moved from England page

Yorkshire, England - one link moved from England page

County Cork, Ireland - with one link from EveNDon

Updates:

England - added historic counties table and some links moved to appropriate county pages; one new link from EveNDon; links added to help determine for which county a city, town, or village is a part

Ireland - added historic counties table and links moved to appropriate county pages

Canada New Pages and Updates

2009-08-23T11:42:00.000-07:00

I added all the directories for Canada from the EveNDon website, and in doing so, added and reorganized many of the pages.

New Pages:

Algoma District, Ontario - with two links from EveNDon

Bruce County, Ontario - includes one link from Our Roots moved from Ontario page

Municipality of Chatham-Kent, Ontario - with one link from EveNDon

Elgin County, Ontario - with four links from EveNDon

Essex County, Ontario - with three links from EveNDon

Grey County, Ontario - with one link from EveNDon

City of Hamilton, Ontario - with one link from EveNDon

Hastings County, Ontario - includes one link from Ancestry moved from Ontario page

Lambton County, Ontario - with one link from EveNDon

Leeds and Grenville United Counties, Ontario - with one link from EveNDon

Middlesex County, Ontario - with two links from EveNDon

Regional Municipality of Niagara, Ontario - with two links from EveNDon

Nipissing District, Ontario - with two links from EveNDon

City of Ottawa, Ontario - includes six links from Ancestry moved from Ontario page, plus three new links from EveNDon

Oxford County, Ontario - with two links from EveNDon

City of Toronto, Ontario - with one link from EveNDon

Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario - with one link from EveNDon

Wellington County, Ontario - with one link from EveNDon

Prince Edward Island - with one link from EveNDon

Updates:

British Columbia - one new link from EveNDon

Canada - added one link from EveNDon; now with 11 provinces and territories linked

Quebec - three new links from EveNDon

Ontario - added table listing 50 census districts; moved links to appropriate pages; now with one provincewide link and 18 census districts linked

MS New Pages

2009-08-22T12:04:00.000-07:00

I have added links to all the directories found at Ancestry for the state of Mississippi. Unfortunately, like the state of Alabama, there is a dearth of online directories for Mississippi. If you know of any, please contact me immediately!

New Pages:

Mississippi - with eight counties linked

Adams County, Mississippi - with five links from Ancestry

Forrest County, Mississippi - with seven links from Ancestry

Harrison County, Mississippi - with nine links from Ancestry

Hinds County, Mississippi - with eight links from Ancestry

Jackson County, Mississippi - with one link from Ancestry

Jones County, Mississippi - with four links from Ancestry

Lauderdale County, Mississippi - with eight links from Ancestry

Washington County, Mississippi - with five links from Ancestry

DC Updates and the EveNDon Website

2009-08-22T11:43:00.000-07:00

With the addition of three new links to the District of Columbia's webpage, I have concluded adding all known links from the EveNDon website for United States' directories.

However, there are many other directories on that website from other countries, which I will eventually link to. Also, I just discovered that Don has stored some digital copies of U.S. directories on the DocStoc website; again, I'll be adding links to those as well.

You may notice that as you peruse the EveNDon website that I may not have listed every resource for a location that is available on that site. That's because I tried to stick closely to directories only; there are many gazetteers listed under the directory category on the EveNDon site, but I only linked those that had some sort of directory in them, like a business directory.

EveNDon have great resources and many digital books on their website beyond city directories, which I highly recommend you use for your genealogical and historical research!

PA, SC, TN, UT New Pages and Updates

2009-08-20T11:23:00.000-07:00

Even more links from EveNDon:

New Pages:

Davis County, Utah - with one link from EveNDon

Weber County, Utah - with one link from EveNDon

Updates:

Mercer County, Pennsylvania - one new link from EveNDon

Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania - one new link from EveNDon

Charlston County, South Carolina - one new link from EveNDon

Tennessee - one new statewide link from EveNDon; one county linked

Davidson County, Tennessee - one new link from EveNDon

Utah - three new statewide links from EveNDon; now with four counties linked

Salt Lake County, Utah - three new links from EveNDon

IL, IN, KY, MO, OH, VT, VA, WV New Pages and Updates

2009-08-19T08:42:00.000-07:00

I'm nearly done adding links from EveNDon's wonderful website. Here are the latest:

New Pages:

Alexander County, Illinois - with one link from EveNDon

Randolph County, Illinois - with one link from EveNDon

Dearborn County, Indiana - with one link from EveNDon

Jefferson County, Indiana - with one link from EveNDon

Daviess County, Kentucky - with one link from EveNDon

Mason County, Kentucky - with one link from EveNDon

McCracken County, Kentucky - with one link from EveNDon

Cape Girardeau County, Missouri - with one link from EveNDon

Belmont County, Ohio - with one link from EveNDon

Brown County, Ohio - with one link from EveNDon

Gallia County, Ohio - with one link from EveNDon

Lawrence County, Ohio - with one link from EveNDon

Meigs County, Ohio - with one link from EveNDon

Scioto County, Ohio - with one link from EveNDon

Washington County, Ohio - with one link from EveNDon

LaMoille County, Vermont - with one link from EveNDon

Orange County, Vermont - with one link from EveNDon

Windsor County, Vermont - with one link from EveNDon

City of Richmond, Virginia - with two links from EveNDon

Ohio County, West Virginia - with one link from EveNDon

Wood County, West Virginia - with one link from EveNDon

Updates:

Illinois - now with three statewide links from EveNDon and 22 counties linked

Indiana - now with 18 counties linked

Kentucky - one new statewide link from EveNDon; now with seven counties linked

Missouri - now with four counties linked

Ohio - two new statewide links from EveNDon; now with 19 counties linked

Vermont - one new statewide link from EveNDon; now with six counties linked

West Virginia - now with four counties linked

AL New Pages and Updates

2009-08-17T07:39:00.000-07:00

I have been very disappointed with the dearth of online directories for the state of Alabama. Ancestry has some, but Footnote and WorldVitalRecords have none. There are few found at the many digital book websites, and even places like USGenWeb don't have many transcribed. If you know of any online directories for Alabama, please send me links immediately!

The following are all new pages and updates that I created for Alabama yesterday.

New Pages:

Dallas County, Alabama - with four links from Ancestry

Mobile County, Alabama - with 28 links from Ancestry and one from Duke University Libraries

Montgomery County, Alabama - with 17 links from Ancestry

Morgan County, Alabama - with four links from Ancestry

Updates:

Alabama - now with eight counties linked

Calhoun County, Alabama - five new links from Ancestry

Jefferson County, Alabama - 12 new links from Ancestry

WorldVitalRecords Free Site Access Extended

2009-08-16T09:05:00.000-07:00

You may have seen this mentioned on other blogs (and I'm sorry I didn't get this posted earlier...was out of town and ill), but WorldVitalRecords has extended their free site access through Tuesday, August 18th. No credit card is required; just a name and e-mail address.

Lots of directories available!

WorldVitalRecords is Free for Three Days

2009-08-11T09:12:00.001-07:00

Here's a good way to check out directories for free:

WorldVitalRecords.com Opens Site Allowing for Free Public Access to More Than One Billion Family History Records

With the addition of the largest number of records to be released in a single day since the site launched in 2006

PROVO, UT, August 11, 2009 - WorldVitalRecords.com, an online family history resource, today announced the addition of the largest number of records to be released in a single day since the site launched in 2006. To commemorate this milestone, for the first time WorldVitalRecords is offering free public access to its entire online collection of historical and genealogical records beginning August 11 and continuing through August 13, 2009. The public will have unlimited access to more than one billion records in over 11,000 databases from around the world including newspapers, census, birth, marriage, death, immigration and military records; family trees; stories and publications; and yearbooks.

"As a genealogy enthusiast, I'm thrilled that people can go to one place like WorldVitalRecords.com, try family history research for free and find their parents or grandparents, and see how simple it is to start tracing back and discovering stories that bring family history to life," said Jim Ericson, Vice-President of Marketing for Family Link. "This is a rare opportunity to delve into the records and discover information about your family and ancestors you may have never known."

Featured records in this release include:

Historical Newspapers
Through a partnership with Newspaper Archive, WorldVitalRecords is adding access to pages from a variety of newspapers from all over the United States, dating from 1759 through 1923. This collection features images of entire newspapers from the western frontier, the Midwest at the turn of the century, and the long-time standard of our nation's news, "The New York Times" which includes over 7 million names. Newspaper Archive produces the largest historical newspaper database online, and the collection is fully searchable by keyword and date, and individual pages can be saved or printed.

According to Gena Philibert Ortega, Genealogy Community Director for FamilyLink, "Part of the fun of family history is uncovering details about our ancestors’ daily lives -- the events of the day, the goods and the services they bought. Newspapers allow us to better understand our ancestors."

Immigration Records
Living in a country of immigrants, ship passenger lists and other records documenting immigration can be an essential part in learning more about your family history. It is a thrilling experience to see their names transcribed on paper the day they entered this country through the Port of New York. Browsing and searching these passenger lists is a perfect way for someone to start researching their family history. This record collection provides documentation of over 150,000 passengers who arrived on nearly 8,000 ships at one of the busiest ports in the United States, New York, from 1820-1832.

Yearbooks
In partnership with the website E-Yearbook.com, WorldVitalRecords is doubling its collection of digitized yearbooks. This collection features university yearbooks from the late 1800 to mid 1950s. E-Yearbook.com houses the largest collection of old college yearbooks on the Internet. Universities featured this week include Duke University, University of Oklahoma, Iowa State and the College of William and Mary.

Vital Records, Military Records and Tax Lists
Other records being released on the site include birth, marriage, tax lists, military records, and death records from Maine, North Carolina, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Focused on helping users discover and share their family history, WorldVitalRecords adds new records to their online collection everyday.

About WorldVitalRecords.com
WorldVitalRecords.com is simplifying family history research by providing many easy-to-use tools and resources to discover and connect with others interested in family history. WorldVitalRecords provides access to more than one billion international and U.S. records WorldVitalRecords.com provides affordable access to genealogy databases and family history tools used by more than 258,000 monthly visitors. The site registers 3.6 million monthly pages views and serves tens of thousands of paying subscribers. With thousands of databases, including birth, death, military, census, and parish records, WorldVitalRecords.com makes it easy to fill in missing information in your family tree.

WorldVitalRecords is part of the FamilyLink.com, Inc. network of family-focused interactive properties including, GenealogyWise, WebTree, WorldHistory, and the We're Related and My Family applications on Facebook

MO, MT, NV, NJ, NY, NC, OH New Pages and Updates

2009-08-05T21:30:00.000-07:00

Added quite a few links from EveNDon's site. I'm hoping to get all the links from that site added to mine by week's end.

New Pages:

Warren County, New Jersey - with one link to EveNDon

Allegany County, New York - with one link to EveNDon

Onondaga County, New York - with one link to EveNDon

Schenectady County, New York - with one link to EveNDon

Tioga County, New York - with one link to EveNDon

Buncombe County, North Carolina - with four links to EveNDon

New Hanover County, North Carolina - with one link to EveNDon

Updates:

Missouri - two new links from EveNDon

Montana - one new link to EveNDon

Nevada - one new link to EveNDon

Washoe County, Nevada - one new link to EveNDon

New Jersey - now with 10 counties linked

Essex County, New Jersey - two new links to EveNDon

Middlesex County, New Jersey - one new link to EveNDon

Union County, New Jersey - one new link to EveNDon

New York - two new links from EveNDon; now with 22 counties and cities linked

Erie County, New York - one new link to EveNDon

New York City, New York - seven new links to EveNDon

North Carolina - with six new links from EveNDon; now with four counties linked

Wake County, North Carolina - one new link to EveNDon

Ohio - with two new links from EveNDon; now with 12 counties linked

Cuyahoga County, Ohio - one new link to EveNDon

Hamilton County, Ohio - 45 new links to EveNDon!

Wayne County, Ohio - one new link to EveNDon

IN, KY, LA, MD, ME, MI, NM, VA New Pages and Updates

2009-08-04T23:24:00.000-07:00

I've added a lot of links from miscellaneous sources for a variety of states.

New Pages:

Allen County, Indiana - with five links from EveNDon

LaPorte County, Indiana - with one link from EveNDon

Campbell County, Kentucky - with six links from EveNDon

Kenton County, Kentucky - with six links from EveNDon

Knox County, Maine - with one link from EveNDon

City of Baltimore, Maryland - with three links from EveNDon

Kent County, Michigan - four links from USGenWeb; one each from Google Books, the Making of America, Historic Map Works, and Michigan County Histories; three from the Internet Archive; and 19 from Ancestry

New Mexico - with one county linked

Otero County, New Mexico - with one link from EveNDon

Albemarle County, Virginia - with one link from New River Notes

Updates:

Indiana - now with 15 counties linked

Jay County, Indiana - added one link from EveNDon

Marion County, Indiana - added 10 links from EveNDon

Kentucky - now with four counties linked

Orleans Parish, Louisiana - added one link from EveNDon

Maine - added one link from EveNDon; now two counties linked

Cumberland County, Maine - added five links from EveNDon

Maryland - added one link from EveNDon; now with two counties and one city linked

Michigan - now with 15 counties linked

St. Clair County, Michigan - fixed several broken links; reformatted page, as it was one of the first page on the website and had the old format style - this includes adding the compilers of each of the directories

Virginia - added four statewide links from New River Notes; now with two counties linked

Lousiana New Pages

2009-08-02T13:07:00.000-07:00

I have added a ton of links for Louisiana to the site. However, most of these are from Ancestry (in fact, I've added every Louisiana directory found at Ancestry to my site). There are a large number of free links from the USGenWeb project for Orleans and Jefferson Parishes; however, they were transcribed as part of a specific research project and many of the transcriptions are for selected surnames only. There are also a large number of New Orleans city directories for the years 1861 - 1923, plus 1985, listed at Footnote, which I have not yet added. As you can see, most of the links to Louisiana directories are found at subscription websites. If you know of any free directories for the state of Louisiana, please let me know!

Please note if you have African roots from Louisiana that many of these directories state if a person was "colored".

New Pages:

Louisiana - with eight parishes linked (this state does not have counties)

Caddo Parish, Louisiana - with 10 links from Ancestry

Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana - with nine links from Ancestry

East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana - with 10 links from Ancestry

Iberia Parish, Louisiana - with three links from Ancestry

Jefferson Parish, Louisiana - with two links from USGenWeb

Lafayette Parish, Louisiana - with three links from Ancestry

Orleans Parish, Louisiana - with 25 links from Ancestry and 139 from USGenWeb!

Rapides Parish, Louisiana - with seven links from Ancestry

Canada and Alaska New Pages and Updates

2009-07-28T15:29:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to tell you that I have listed every link to all the directories found at Peel's Prairie Provinces and The Recents websites, which cover Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, with a little bit of Northwest Territories, British Columbia, and Ontario! Oh, yes, and one update for Alaska.

Thanks to readers Diane Rogers and Marina Crawford for the links to Peel's and The Recents.

New Pages:

Lethbridge, Alberta - with 31 links

Medicine Hat and Redcliff, Alberta - with 28 links

Brandon, Manitoba - with 36 links

Winnipeg, Manitoba - with 15 links

Northwest Territories - with five links

Updates:

Alaska - three new links from USGenWeb

Alberta - total of 13 links; plus links to five cities/regions

Calgary, Alberta - total of 55 links

Didsbury Region, Alberta - total of 15 links

Edmonton, Alberta - total of 64 links

British Columbia - two new links; page is still under construction

Manitoba - total of 15 links; plus links to two cities

Ontario - one new link from Peel's Prairie Provinces

Saskatchewan - total of 19 links

New Pages and Updates

2009-07-28T07:22:00.000-07:00

I've got a hodgepodge of new pages and updates...a variety of locations and a variety of resources!

New Pages:

Calhoun County, Alabama - with one link from BYU Digital Books

Madison County, Alabama - with one link from USGenWeb

Marengo County, Alabama - with one link from USGenWeb

Ireland - with one link from EveNDon

Wales - with 14 links from Bangor Civic Society

Wood County, Wisconsin - with three links from EveNDon

Wyoming - with one county linked

Sheridan County, Wyoming - with one link from USGenWeb

Updates:

Alabama - now with four linked counties

Jefferson County, Alabama - two links from Google Books

Alaska - two new links from Historic Map Works

Calhoun County, Michigan - one new link from Historic Map Works

United Kingdom - now with two linked countries

Wisconsin - now with nine linked counties

Milwaukee County, Wisconsin - one link from EveNDon

More WI New Pages and Updates

2009-07-26T00:50:00.000-07:00

Wisconsin has some amazing collections of online directories! I've been having fun adding them to the site!

New Pages:

Rock County, Wisconsin - with 32 links from the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections!

Updates:

Winnebago County, Wisconsin - added 33 links from the Oshkosh Public Library, one link from the Winnebago County Jan Digs Project, three links from the Neenah Public Library, and 13 links from the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections. One of these links includes a
house renumbering calculator for Oshkosh addresses that existed 1908 - 1957.

There are now eight linked counties on the Wisconsin page. Happy hunting!

CA and WI New Pages and Updates

2009-07-24T20:35:00.000-07:00

I've added some California and Wisconsin pages and updated another California page:

New Pages:

Calaveras County, California - with one link from the Golden Nugget Library

Stanislaus County, California - with one link from the Golden Nugget Library

Tuolumne County, California - with one link from the Golden Nugget Library

Calumet County, Wisconsin - with two links from Calumet and Sheboygan County Page

Milwaukee County, Wisconsin - with five links from Links to the Past

Sheboygan County, Wisconsin - with two links from Calumet and Sheboygan County Page

Updates:

San Joaquin County, California - added four links from the Golden Nugget Library; there are more coming!

Thanks to Sheri Fenley and Barbara Bradley Petura for their tips to these great California and Wisconsin directories!

NY Updates - New York City/Brooklyn

2009-07-24T09:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I updated the New York City page with 11 links to Brooklyn directories from the Brooklyn Genealogy Information Page, 32 links to Long Island community directories from the Longwood Genealogy Group, and one link to a Brooklyn directory from Historic Map Works.

You will notice that the link to the directory from Historic Map Works is listed as "Free*". This, of course, means that it is free with some stipulations. In order to view directories (and maps) at Historic Map Works, you must register (for free). This will give you 10 free credits allowing you to view 10 directories on the site. After you have used your 10 credits, you may either purchase more in increments of $10.00 each (each credit is worth 10 cents), or by purchasing a monthly subscription of $29.95 or a yearly one of $249.95. More info on rates is available here, and a list of available directories is here.

Thanks to reader Joy Rich for these links. There are many more to be added to this page in the future!

CO New Page - Larmier County

2009-07-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

I have added Larimer County to the list of Colorado counties linked, for a total of 12 Colorado counties now online! Please remember that these county pages are not complete, and there will be many more links added to these pages from various websites, as well as many more counties added, as time permits.

The Larmier County page has 79 links to directories covering 1902 to 2002! These are all from the Fort Collins History Connection website. It took me about three days to get this page all set up and linked. Why so long? Every time I find a directory resource, I do try to go and visit every directory's link and find the publisher, verify the year, and see if the directory covers more than just the location listed in its title. Sometimes this takes quite a bit of time, because the title page will be quite a ways into the directory and I have to browse page by page until I find it. Sometimes, it just doesn't exist because the directory is old and the first few pages are missing, or the institution or individual who scanned or transcribed the directory didn't bother to scan or transcribe the publishing info.

Thanks to Joe Beine for telling me about the directories listed in the Fort Collins History Connection. Joe has a site full of wonderful links himself; please visit it here.

TX New Pages

2009-07-22T08:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks to reader Vickie Everhart, I was able to find two websites full of Texas city and county directories, and was thus able to add 13 counties to my Texas page, for a total of 15 linked counties!

New Pages:

Bexar County, Texas - with one link from David Gray's People Finder

Cooke County, Texas - with one link from David Gray's People Finder

Dallas County, Texas - with 10 links from Dallas County Texas Archives and two from David Gray's People Finder

Galveston County, Texas - with two links from David Gray's People Finder

Grayson County, Texas - with one link from David Gray's People Finder

Harris County, Texas - with two links from David Gray's People Finder

Lamar County, Texas - with one link from David Gray's People Finder

McLennan County, Texas - with one link from David Gray's People Finder

Navarro County, Texas - with one link from David Gray's People Finder

Parker County, Texas - with one link from David Gray's People Finder

Robertson County, Texas - with one link from David Gray's People Finder

Tarrant County, Texas - with two links from David Gray's People Finder

Travis County, Texas - with two links from David Gray's People Finder

Updates:

El Paso County, Texas - one link from David Gray's People Finder

IL New Pages and Updates

2009-07-21T12:39:00.000-07:00

Lots of links from EveNDon!

New Pages:

Bureau County, Illinois - with one link from EveNDon

Cass County, Illinois - with one link from EveNDon

Champaign County, Illinois - with eight links from EveNDon

Coles County, Illinois - with one link from EveNDon

Douglas County, Illinois - with one link from EveNDon

Edgar County, Illinois - with one link from EveNDon

Macon County, Illinois - with one link from EveNDon

Mason County, Illinois - with one link from EveNDon

McHenry County, Illinois - with one link from EveNDon

Menard County, Illinois - with one link from EveNDon

Sangamon County, Illinois - with two links from EveNDon

Shelby County, Illinois - with one link from EveNDon

Woodford County, Illinois - with one link from EveNDon

Updates:

Illinois - two new statewide links from EveNDon; now 19 counties linked!

Cook County, Illinois - 13 links from EveNDon

AL and AR New Pages

2009-07-21T08:47:00.000-07:00

I've added two new state pages to the United States page, Alabama and Arkansas, plus I've added some linked counties:

Jefferson County, Alabama - with one link from Google Books

Hempstead County, Arkansas - with one link from Ouiser's Arkansas History

Pulaski County, Arkansas - with one link from Ouiser's Arkansas History

CA New Pages and Updates

2009-07-18T20:49:00.000-07:00

I added many links for California directories from the San Francisco Genealogy and the Golden Nugget Library websites.

New Pages:

Sacramento County, California - with one link from San Francisco Genealogy

San Joaquin County, California - with one link from San Francisco Genealogy

Updates:

California - one link from Golden Nugget Library; total of 10 counties now linked

Alameda County, California - one link each from San Francisco Genealogy, Golden Nugget Library, and the Bancroft Library

San Francisco County, California - 20 links from San Francisco Genealogy, six from Golden Nugget Library, and one from the Bancroft Library

Oklahoma - corrected county name from Becker to Beckham

DC, GA, WA, BC, and ID New Pages and Updates

2009-07-14T08:29:00.000-07:00

Here are the latest updates and new pages. I added a few links for the District of Columbia and Georgia from the EveNDon website, then switched to Ancestry and USGenWeb to add all I could find on my home state, Washington, with a few links from neighboring Idaho and British Columbia. I do intend to go back and finish adding all the EveNDon links for the rest of the states, but it's nice sometimes to mix things up a little.

Speaking of EveNDon, I noticed when I was on the site earlier that there is a memorial to Eve, who passed away June 30th. How sad! She and Don have given the genealogical community such a gift by uploading these directories to their site and not charging at all to view them. The site does take donations, so I encourage you to donate something as a way of giving back to the genealogical community.

Some good news: The Got Genealogy? website has declared the Online City, County, and Rural Directory Site their July 2009 Site of the Month! I stumbled upon this great website a while ago doing a Google search for city directories and found Lisa's helpful free online newsletter on that topic. I wrote more about Got Genealogy? on my other blog here. Check it out! I'm sure you'll love all the goodies at Got Genealogy?!

I added all the Washington State directories that I could find anywhere online...mostly at Ancestry and USGenWeb sites. I believe that I have 99% of the directories available online for this state now linked on my site. There are probably a few out there that might be "hidden": Pacific Coast directories or British Columbia directories that might have some listings for Washington residents. I'll keep my eye out. Meantime, if you have ancestors or relatives from Washington State, enjoy the links! I am disappointed that there are not more free sites that contain Washington directories (most are linked to Ancestry). However, do not forget that the Washington State Digital Archives are preparing to upload many Polk directories for Washington communities to their website, hopefully in September. Volunteers are needed; if you would like to help this project along, check out this post I wrote in May.

New Pages

Fulton County, Georgia - with one link from EveNDon

Richmond County, Georgia - with one link from EveNDon

Bingham County, Idaho - with one link from Ancestry

Kootenai County, Idaho - with 12 links from Ancestry

Clallam County, Washington - with seven links from Ancestry

Cowlitz County, Washington - with four links from Ancestry

Franklin County, Washington - with one link from a USGenWeb site

Island County, Washington - with one link from Ancestry

Jefferson County, Washington - with one link from Ancestry

Kitsap County, Washington - with five links from Ancestry

Kittitas County, Washington - with five links from Ancestry

Lewis County, Washington - with four links from Ancestry

Lincoln County, Washington - with one link from a USGenWeb site

Mason County, Washington - with one link from Ancestry

San Juan County, Washington - with one link from Ancestry

Skagit County, Washington - with one link from Ancestry and two from USGenWeb sites

Snohomish County, Washington - with five links from Ancestry and two from USGenWeb sites

Spokane County, Washington - with 13 links from Ancestry

Thurston County, Washington - with one link from Ancestry

Yakima County, Washington - with four links from USGenWeb sites

Updates

Articles - added two articles; one by Lisa B. Lee and another by Phyllis Matthews Ziller. There are now 16 links to articles that you can read to help you understand how useful city directories are and how to best utilize them in your genealogical research!

British Columbia - one link from Ancestry

District of Columbia - three links from EveNDon

Georgia - four counties total now linked

Idaho - three counties total now linked

Washington - 20 counties total now linked

King County, Washington - with 20 links from Ancestry and one from a USGenWeb site

Pierce County, Washington - with 20 links from Ancestry

Whatcom County, Washington - 11 links from Ancestry, 14 from USGenWeb sites, and one from the InternetArchive

No Updates Lately?

2009-07-12T20:36:00.000-07:00

I haven't updated the site recently for several reasons. I've been busy with family responsibilities, and when I've had time on the computer, I have been working on two other blogs, my main genealogy blog, AnceStories, and my local genealogical society blog, the EWGS blog. Also, if you haven't already discovered it, there's a brand spanking new social networking site just for genealogists called GenealogyWise and I've been busy checking it out! You can "friend" me here.

I promise I'll be back to work on the site soon, and as always, appreciate your patience!

CA, CO, and CT New Pages and Updates

2009-07-01T16:54:00.000-07:00

Lots more links from EveNDon!

New Pages:

Contra Costa County, California - with two links from Ancestry and one from EveNDon

Boulder County, Colorado - with one link from EveNDon

Cheyenne County, Colorado - with one link from EveNDon

Clear Creek County, Colorado - with one link from EveNDon

Gilpin County, Colorado - with one link from EveNDon

Jefferson County, Colorado - with one link from EveNDon

Kit Carson County, Colorado - with one link from EveNDon

Las Animas County, Colorado - with one link from EveNDon

Pueblo County, Colorado - with one link from EveNDon

Weld County, Colorado - with one link from EveNDon

Updates:

California - one link from EveNDon

Alameda County, California - two links from EveNDon

San Francisco County, California - seven links from EveNDon

San Mateo County, California - one link from EveNDon

Colorado - one link from EveNDon

Denver County, Colorado - one link from EveNDon

Connecticut - three links from EveNDon

Hartford County, Connecticut - one link from EveNDon

New Haven County, Connecticut - one link from EveNDon

PA , OH, and MI New Pages and Updates

2009-06-30T08:05:00.000-07:00

I've added quite a few links from EveNDon Pittsburgh Directory website. While they have so much more than Pittsburgh directories, I have added links to their pages for that area, and there are many! Here are the latest new pages and updates:

New Pages:

Berrien County, Michigan - with one link from USGenWeb

Columbiana County, Ohio - with one link from Eve and Don

Mahoning County, Ohio - with one link from Eve and Don

Beaver County, Pennsylvania - with one link from Eve and Don

Fayette County, Pennsylvania - with one link from Eve and Don and one from RootsWeb

Greene County, Pennsylvania - with one link from RootsWeb

Lawrence County, Pennsylvania - with one link from Eve and Don

Mercer County, Pennsylvania - with one link from Eve and Don

Washington County, Pennsylvania - with one link from Eve and Don and one from RootsWeb

Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania - with two links from Eve and Don

Updates:

Pennsylvania - one link from RootsWeb

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania - 67! links from Eve and Don and one from RootsWeb

Armstrong County, Pennsylvania - one link from RootsWeb

Butler County, Pennsylvania - one link from Eve and Don

Updates and New Pages for June 20 - 25, 2009

2009-06-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

Here are the latest updates and new pages. Currently, I have added all links from DistantCousin, Old Directory Search, KentuckyCityDirectory, and All-Ancestors, and am working on adding links from Eve and Don. These are all the free online directory websites available (where the website is mostly focused on just city directories). However, in doing some Google searches, I discovered there were several other directory websites that are now obsolete. These included Ye Old Directory Shoppe, VirginiaCityDirectory, DelewareCityDirectory, WisconsinCityDirectory, and one or two others I can't think of at the moment. I did find a few archived pages for them using the Way Back Machine on the InternetArchive website, so I'll be adding those, too.

My next focus after adding links from the free directory sites is to start on the directories listed on Google Books and in the InternetArchive (the digitized book section, not the Way Back Machine). If you're curious about the resources I use and how to access these websites, please visit the Resources pages on the website.

Updates:

Bristol County, Massachusetts - one link from Eve and Don

Hampshire County, Massachusetts - one link from Eve and Don

Plymouth County, Massachusetts - one link from Eve and Don

New York City, New York - seven links from Google Books

Oneida County, New York - two links from DistantCousin

Hamilton County, Ohio - one link from All-Ancestors

Saskatchewan - three links from Peel's Prairie Provinces

New Pages:

Alberta - with five links from Peel's Prairie Provinces

Calgary, Alberta - with eight links from Peel's Prairie Provinces and one from Our Roots

Didsbury Region, Alberta - with six links from Peel's Prairie Provinces and one from Our Roots

Edmonton, Alberta - with 11 links from Peel's Prairie Provinces and one from Our Roots

Bourbon County, Kansas - with one link from All-Ancestors

Manitoba - with one link from Peel's Prairie Provinces

Worcester County, Massachusetts - with one link from All-Ancestors

New Brunswick - with one link from DistantCousin

New Jersey

Cape May County, New Jersey - with one link from DistantCousin

Essex County, New Jersey - with two links from DistantCousin

Hunterdon County, New Jersey - with one link from DistantCousin

Middlesex County, New Jersey - with one link from DistantCousin

Monmouth County, New Jersey - with two links from DistantCousin

Passaic County, New Jersey - with one link from DistantCousin

Salem County, New Jersey - with one link from DistantCousin

Somerset County, New Jersey - with one link from DistantCousin

Union County, New Jersey - with four links from DistantCousin

Cayuga County, New York - with two links from DistantCousin

Columbia County, New York - with one link from DistantCousin

Dutchess County, New York - with one link from DistantCousin

Erie County, New York - with two links from DistantCousin

Montgomery County, New York - with two links from DistantCousin

Orange County, New York - with one link from DistantCousin

Rensselaer County, New York - with one link from DistantCousin

North Carolina

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina - with one link from DistantCousin

Wake County, North Carolina - with one link from DistantCousin

North Dakota

Cass County, North Dakota - with one link from DistantCousin

Northwest Territories - with one link from Peel's Prairie Provinces

Nunavut Territory - with one link from Peel's Prairie Provinces

Clark County, Ohio - with one link from All-Ancestors

Ross County, Ohio - with one link from DistantCousin

Stark County, Ohio - with one link from DistantCousin

Oklahoma

Oklahoma County, Oklahoma - with one link from DistantCousin

Ottawa County, Oklahoma - with one link from DistantCousin

Oregon

Malheur County, Oregon - with one link from DistantCousin

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania - with one link from DistantCousin

Armstrong County, Pennsylvania - with eight links from DistantCousin

Butler County, Pennsylvania - with one link from DistantCousin

Clearfield County, Pennsylvania - with one link from DistantCousin

Cumberland County, Pennsylvania - with two links from DistantCousin

Dauphin County, Pennsylvania - with three links from DistantCousin

Lebanon County, Pennsylvania - with one link from DistantCousin

Lehigh County, Pennsylvania - with four links from DistantCousin

Luzerne County, Pennsylvania - with five links from DistantCousin

Rhode Island

Bristol County, Rhode Island - with one link from DistantCousin

Newport County, Rhode Island - with one link from DistantCousin

Providence County, Rhode Island - with three links from DistantCousin and one from All-Ancestors

South Carolina

Richland County, South Carolina - with one link from DistantCousin

Tennessee

Davidson County, Tennessee - with one link from DistantCousin

Texas

El Paso County, Texas - with one link from DistantCousin

Potter County, Texas - with one link from DistantCousin

Vermont

Caledonia County, Vermont - with one link from DistantCousin

Chittenden County, Vermont - with two links from DistantCousin

Bennington County, Vermont - with two links from DistantCousin

Virginia

Norfolk (City), Virginia - with one link from DistantCousin

King County, Washington - with one link from DistantCousin

West Virginia

Cabell County, West Virginia - with one link from DistantCousin

Harrison County, West Virginia - with one link from DistantCousin

Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin - with one link from DistantCousin

Winnebago County, Wisconsin - with one link from DistantCousin

Updates and New Pages for June 15 - 19, 2009

2009-06-19T18:57:00.000-07:00

Again, many changes were made over the past five days. My main goal is to get all the links from free directory sites such as DistantCousin, Old Directory Search, Eve and Don, All-Ancestors, etc. listed before I go on to other major directory databases, free or subscription. I'm about halfway through the alphabet, statewise, at this point.

Updates:

Denver County, Colorado - one link from Old Directory Search

Cumberland County, Maine - one link from DistantCousin

Hampden County, Massachusetts - one link from Old Directory Search

Alpena County, Michigan - one link from DistantCousin

New York City, New York - one link from Old Directory Search

New Pages:

Deleware County, Indiana - with one link from DistantCousin

Jay County, Indiana - with one link from DistantCousin

Marshall County, Indiana - with one link from DistantCousin

Union County, Indiana - with one link from DistantCousin

Vanderburgh County, Indiana - with one link from DistantCousin

Wabash County, Indiana - with one link from DistantCousin

Iowa

Cerro County, Iowa - with one link from DistantCousin

Lee County, Iowa - with one link from DistantCousin

Polk County, Iowa - with one link from DistantCousin

Pottawattamie County, Iowa - with one link from DistantCousin

Woodbury County, Iowa - with one link from DistantCousin

Kansas - with one link from Eve and Don

Saline County, Kansas - with two links from DistantCousin

Shawnee County, Kansas - with one link from DistantCousin

Kentucky

Fayette County, Kentucky - with one link from KentuckyCityDirectory

Jefferson County, Kansas - with one link from DistantCousin and one link from KentuckyCityDirectory

Maryland

Allegany County, Maryland - with one link from DistantCousin

Baltimore County, Maryland - with one link from DistantCousin

Calhoun County, Michigan - with one link from DistantCousin

Gratiot County, Michigan - with one link from DistantCousin

Ingham County, Michigan - with one link from DistantCousin

Ottawa County, Michigan - with one link from DistantCousin

Hennepin County, Michigan - with one link from DistantCousin

Minnesota

Polk County, Minnesota - with one link from DistantCousin

Nebraska

Douglas County, Nebraska - with one link from DistantCousin

New Hampshire

Belknap County, New Hampshire - with two links from DistantCousin

Cheshire County, New Hampshire - with two links from DistantCousin

Merrimack County, New Hampshire - with three links from DistantCousin

Hillsborough County, New Hampshire - with 11 links from DistantCousin

Sullivan County, New Hampshire - with three links from DistantCousin

Nevada

Carson City, Nevada - with one link from DistantCousin

Washoe County, Nevada - with two links from DistantCousin

Pennsylvania

Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania - with one link from Old Directory Search

Green County, Wisconsin - with one link from Old Directory Search

Updates and New Pages for June 14, 2009

2009-06-14T16:11:00.000-07:00

I created a ton of new pages as well as made many updates today!

Updates:
The biggest update was the one on the Cook County, Illinois page. Currently, all links (especially the ones from Footnote) are correct and formatted properly. I also added a link from Eve and Don.

Resources - added links to NEHGS and KentuckyCityDirectory

Articles - added link to Dae Powell's article, City Directories, on his Shoestring Genealogy website

San Bernardino County, California - two new links from Ancestry

Orange County, California - two new links from Ancestry

Los Angeles County, California - two new links from Ancestry

Hartford County, Connecticut - 10 new links from DistantCousin

New Haven County, Connecticut - corrected format of links

Fairfield County, Connecticut - two new links from DistantCousin

Adams County, Illinois - one link from Eve and Don

Madison County, Illinois - corrected links from Ancestry; added link from Eve and Don

St. Clair County, Illinois - one link from Eve and Don

New Pages:
Colorado

Denver County, Colorado - with one link from DistantCousin

El Paso County, Colorado - with one link from DistantCousin

Delaware

New Castle County, Delaware - with one link from DistantCousin

San Francisco County, California - with three links

Santa Clara County, California - with three links

Alameda County, California - with three links

San Mateo County, California - with three links

New London County, Connecticut - with one link from DistantCousin

Glynn County, Georgia - with one link from DistantCousin

LaSalle County, Illinois - with two links

Christian County, Illinois - with two links

Peoria County, Illinois - with two links

Kane County, Illinois - with two links

Updates and New Pages for the Week of June 7 - 13, 2009

2009-06-14T07:34:00.000-07:00

Updates:

British Columbia - eight new links from Our Roots

St. Clair County, Illinois - one link from Ancestry

Essex County, Massachusetts - three links, one each from InternetArchive, DistantCousin and Eve and Don

Articles - added five links to articles about researching city directories. The one by Kory Meyerlink is especially helpful and detailed, in my opinion.

New Pages:

United Kingdom

England* - with four links

Bristol County, Massachusetts - with three links

Hampden County, Massachusetts - with one link

Hampshire County, Massachusetts - with one link

Middlesex County, Massachusetts - with two links

Norfolk County, Massachusetts - with four links

Plymouth County, Massachusetts - with two links

Suffolk County, Massachusetts - with twelve links (Boston is in Suffolk County)

Arizona - with one link

Maricopa County, Arizona - with four links

Pima County, Arizona - with two links

*I haven't decided yet if I will break up the four countries of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, North Ireland and Wales) into county pages. For the time being, I will leave it. If I find too many links to keep the pages neat, organized and unconfusing, I will further categorize them by county.

I've also begun adding county pages for all the United States. These county pages are not "live" and do not have links on them. However, it will make it easier for me when I come across resources; I'll be able to put the links on the already-created county pages and then make them live. Creating pages is one of the more time-consuming details of my webmaster tasks, and although this behind-the-scenes activity isn't readily obvious to my readers, it will eventually speed along the process of getting data on the website.

Thank you to all who continue to send me links. My list is ever-growing! Also thanks to you all who are being patient with me while I correct and update pages that I first created weeks ago in the old format.

Happy Hunting!

NY and QC Updates

2009-06-06T23:11:00.000-07:00

The last few days, I've added many new pages and added links to old pages:

New York State:

Broome County - one link from Distant Cousin

Monroe County - 64 links, many from the Monroe County Library District, but a few from some other resources

New York City - two new Brooklyn links from Distant Cousin

Oneida County - one new link from Distant Cousin

Ontario County - two links

Ulster County - one link

Wayne County - one link

Canada:

Quebec - seven links from Library and Archives Canada

African-American Residential and Business Directories

2009-06-05T06:25:00.000-07:00

Do you have African roots? Then you'll be pleased to discover there are many city directories that can help you in your genealogical research. Many cities and large communities had either a section of the city directory, or a separate directory altogether, dedicated to listing African-American residents and businesses. In the 1800s and early 1900s, these were often called Colored Directories or Negro Business Directories.

To find these on my site, use the search engine located in the upper right-hand corner on any page. Search for colored or negro. To find these on the directory websites themselves, even in directories that don't prominently display a separate section for African-Americans, do a directory-wide search, again for the words colored or negro. Sometimes the compiler would list one of these words after a resident's name in the directory. Although this was a racist act, it does help those today who are tracing their African roots.

NYC Updates

2009-06-05T06:22:00.000-07:00

I added the Tremont Baptist Church Directory of 1916 to the New York City page.

What's in the works: Monroe County, New York - Stay tuned! There are tons of links for this county to many resources, and those with Monroe County/Rochester roots will be pleased to know that this collection will cover 1827 to 1947 with very little gaps!

Even More IL Updates

2009-06-03T21:18:00.000-07:00

The Cook County, Illinois pages are now corrected and updated through the year 1890. I also discovered that the New England Historic Genealogical Society has a digital library containing city and other directories on its website (you must be a subscriber to access the images). I linked to the Chicago City Directory of 1858 at that site.

More IL Updates

2009-06-02T08:23:00.000-07:00

The Cook County, Illinois page links have now been corrected and updated through the year 1880. More to come. Again, thanks for your patience with this!

E-mail Address, Screen Resolution, and Opening a Page

2009-06-01T19:50:00.000-07:00

Because I've been getting so much spam, I've changed the way I display my e-mail address on the site. When you look at the bottom of any page, you will now see "Report errors and broken links or send suggestions for new listings here." When you click on the link, it will open your e-mail software and input kidmiffATgmailDOTcom in the address line. You will, of course, need to change the AT to @ and the DOT to .

I've also made a note about the screen resolution at the bottom of each page. I've had complaints that sometimes the tables on the pages appear to go off the screen on the right. This happens if you have a monitor with 800X600 screen resolution. You'll need to change it to 1024X768, if possible (sometimes if your monitor is older, you will still have "issues" or different issues, if you change the screen resolution). To change your resolution on a PC, go to Start, Control Panel, Display, then click the Settings tab. Move the slider over until it says 1024X768, then click either OK or Apply.

Every page link to another page on the site now opens in the same tab or window in which you are viewing. Links to other sites will still open in a new tab.

Indexing Project for Washington State City Directories

2009-05-31T08:35:00.001-07:00

I received the following information from Terri Huntley, Historical Records Project Coordinator for the Washington State Digital Archives:

The Historical Records Project is designed for people to work from home using their computer/internet to transcribe or proofread selected documents (census, military, directories, birth, death, naturalization, and other materials). It isn't necessary to commit to specific hours since you work from your home donating your time at your convenience. The indexing efforts are posted online at the Washington State Digital Archives site: www.digitalarchives.wa.gov

Currently, many of the volunteers are transcribing many of the early Polk Directories that have been scanned at the Washington State Library. (We're working on early Seattle directories right now).

If you’re interested in volunteering, I need to know your spreadsheet preference: Works or Excel and your mailing address. Once we decide on a project to start on, I email a template and mail out paper copies along with postage paid return envelope. Once you have completed the project, you email the file back and return the paper copies in the envelope.

If you’re interested in volunteering, email Terri Huntley at: thuntley@secstate.wa.gov

FL Update and New MT and ID Pages

2009-05-31T08:19:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention yesterday that the Florida State page does have one link on it. Many of the state pages have links to statewide directories or directories that cover multiple counties or cities, so check them out. The links appear under the table of counties.

Yesterday morning, I added a Montana and Idaho State pages. Both have links on their state pages. Montana has new Carbon, Silverbow (Butte) and Yellowstone County pages and Idaho has a new Owyhee County page.

**Please note that I am going to be changing the way the pages open on the site. Instead of opening a new tab, pages linking to other pages on the site will open them in the same tab or window. However, links to other sites will still open in a new tab. It will take a while to change things over. I originally created the pages to open in new tabs because it was easier for me to cut and paste links from one page to another when I first created my site.**

Happy Hunting!

New FL Page and SK Updates

2009-05-29T22:28:00.000-07:00

I just added Florida to my list of United States pages, but right now there is only one county available: Duval County (Jacksonville). There are plenty of links on the Duval County page, however, with more yet to come.

I also found more Saskatchewan directories online (actually, I've been getting many Canadian ones sent to me!) and added a few more to the Saskatchewan page while I had a few minutes earlier this evening.

New SK Page and More IL Corrections

2009-05-29T01:03:00.000-07:00

I posted the new Saskatchewan page with one new link.

I've also been going through and correcting errors on the Cook County, Illinois page. Currently, the links for directories from the 1840s through the year 1870 have all been checked and corrected, and some new ones added. I'll keep plugging away at it!

IL Corrections

2009-05-26T21:14:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a heads up from a reader, I corrected the links to the free city directories from the ChicagoAncestors website on the Cook County, Illinois page.

This page still needs lots of work, so I appreciate everyone's patience. I'll do my best to complete this and the Wayne County, Michigan page soon!

IL and MO Updates

2009-05-26T19:21:00.000-07:00

Illinois State Page - one statewide business directory link added

Added Adams County, Illinois page - one county directory link

Added St. Clair County, Illinois page - 8 links added, all East St. Louis City Directories

Added Missouri State Page - two statewide business directory links added

Added Jackson County, Missouri page - one city directory link

Added Marion County, Missouri page - 28 city directory links for Hannibal, one county directory link, and one Colored Persons directory link

Added City of Saint Louis, Missouri page - one city directory link and one business directory link

Corrected links on all state pages for RootsWeb's Town/County Locator.

Happy Hunting!

CT, IN, MA, ME, NY, UT, WI Updates

2009-05-25T21:03:00.000-07:00

Thanks to generous readers, I was able to add the following pages with links today:

Hartford County, Connecticut - new link: Hartford City Directory, Geer, 1899 on Google Books

Jackson County, Indiana - all new, 6 links

Cumberland County, Maine - all new, 1 link

Essex County, Massachusetts - all new, 9 links

New York City, New York - all new, 1 link

Salt Lake County, Utah - all new, 1 link

Dane County, Wisconsin - all new, 1 link

I also received links for three other counties and states tonight, but have run out of time. Thanks, all!

Resources, Articles, FAQs and Comments

2009-05-25T16:36:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all who commented via Twitter, Facebook, this blog, and my e-mail. I appreciate all the comments, corrections, and new links shared. Please note that if you find an error, list specifically what it is and on what page it appears (i.e. "1884 Chicago City Directory at Ancestry, Cook County, Illinois) to help me correct it faster.

I completed and added the following pages today: Resources, Articles and FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions). They are all accessible from the Home page. The FAQs page especially is helpful in understanding how the site is set up, and I recommend you read it before going on to any other pages.

The Articles page lists helpful articles found online that explain how and why city and other directories are used in genealogy. The Resources page lists where I find the directories that I link to on my website, as well as a useful form that Dae of Shoestring Genealogy created to list information found while researching directories.

My next big focus will be the Detroit (Wayne County, Michigan) and Chicago (Cook County, Illinois) pages. As you probably noticed, they are incomplete and have unlinked titles on them. I also need to reformat the links to show the publisher's name, so that you can know if you are comparing the same directories from different websites.

Keep those links and comments coming in. I'll be adding them as time allows.