City Directories

City Directory Abstracts provide detailed historical city directory information for a property and its surrounding area at five-year intervals. Published for United States cities and towns since the 18th century, city directories identify the property name and use, such as gas stations and dry cleaners. Dating from the early 1800's these directories provide key historical information on the occupancy history via a "reverse phone directory" in which streets are listed alphabetically and occupants are shown for each street number listed.