We found a Philadelphia directory on the Internet, from OldDirectorySearch.com:
Philadelphia City Directory for 1890, published by James Gopsill’s Sons.
This directory has an index by name of person.
We are looking for Robert Mitcheson.
Lists Mitcheson and lists his occupation as Pipes. Gives business address and home address.
Page where Mitcheson is listed.
Problem: what does “pipes” mean?
Solutions:
- Look in another directory
- Use a source that lists obsolete or historical occupations
Other directories: check DELCAT.
- keywords in title: Philadelphia city directory; Philadelphia business directory
- browse by subject:
Philadelphia (Pa.) – Directories
Gopsill’s Philadelphia business directory. Morris Library F158.2 .G65
This directory lists businesses; it does not have an index by name of person. The Index is of occupations/businesses.
We are looking for “pipes.”
The index lists: Pipes (Smoking), manufacturers of and dealers in. Page 372.
Page of index where Pipes is listed.
Page of directory: lists persons in the business of pipes. Gives business address.
City directories usually included a residential list and a business directory. Additionally, there are business directories and even some farm directories.
In Delaware, some publications called “city” directories cover New Castle County or the entire state.
Wilmington city directories were published from 1814, 1845, 1853, 1857, and from 1859 to present. (Some sources list other dates)
A state directory was published for 1859/60.
City/state directories in DELCAT:
- Subject browse: Delaware – Directories or Wilmington (Del.) – Directories
- Keyword in title: delaware directory
- Ask in the Special Collections department
City Directories online:
Transcriptions of many directories in Excel format are available in the Institutional Repository of the University of Delaware: Street Directories (1785-1885).
For More Directories
Delaware Genealogical Research Guide. By Thomas P. Doherty. Wilmington, DE: Delaware Genealogical Society, 2002.
City Directories. by Juliana Smith (Using Ancestry.com)
City Directories. by George Morgan. Along Those Lines …
City Directories. Ancestry Magazine – Archive Vol. 13 No. 4 (July/August 1995).
City Directories. (Cyndi’s List)
City directory titles on Footnote.com – what they are and how to use them.
Distantcousin.com.
Free access to digital images from many city directories.
Effective Use of City Directories. By Kory L. Meyerink, AG, FUGA.
Old Directory Search
City Directories (Research Guide – UD)
More Information
American repositories with large collections of city directories include:
(from CITY DIRECTORIES: WINDOWS ON THE PAST by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, C.G.)
- Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
- American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts
- DAR Library, Washington, D.C.
- Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah
- New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts
- Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, Indiana
- Newberry Library, Chicago, Illinois
- New York Public Library, New York City, New York
Bibliography of American Directories through 1860. By Dorothea N. Spear. Worcester, Mass.: American Antiquarian Society, 1961. Not at UD Library.
Full text microfilm collection (Not at UD Library):
- Based on Dorothea N. Spear’s Bibliography of American Directories Through 1860 and material from the American Antiquarian Society. Extended to 1960.
- City Directories of the United States. Segments I-5.
- Downloadable catalog of available directories on Primary Source site
- Can be gotten through Interlibrary Loan through the Center for Research Libraries
City Directories Available at National Archives (circa 1930)
Telephone and City Directories in the Library of Congress: A Finding Guide. By Barbara B. Walsh.
U.S. City Directories on Microfilm in the Microform Reading Room. At the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
