City directories are among the most important sources of information about urban areas and their inhabitants. They provide personal and professional information about a city's residents as well as information about its business, civic, social, religious, charitable, and literary institutions. City directories often provide additional information about individuals such as place of employment and name of spouse. The entries are arranged alphabetically by last name and also by address and telephone number. City directories are compiled through door-to-door surveys and are published at irregular intervals.

The Library of Congress has an unmatched collection of United States city directories. They are available in a variety of formats: electronic, microfiche, microfilm, and print. For a general understanding of the availability for each format, here are some facts about the collection:

Microfilm (Self-Serve)

• City Directories of the United States is a large, self-service collection of city directories on microfilm. More than 1200 cities, towns, and counties are represented; the years of coverage are primarily 1861 through 1960. The directories are arranged by city (not by state) in large cabinets in the Microform and Electronic Resources Center. Paper copies of the guide to city directories can be found in the Microform and Electronic Resources Center and at the Local History and Genealogy Reference Desk in the Main Reading Room. Directories for many localities include listings for other nearby communities. When ranges of years are indicated, there may be gaps of as many as five years. Numbered miscellaneous reels are shelved at the end of the alphabetical collection.
• A separate microfilm collection of U.S. business directories, published from 1902 to 1935 is shelved following the miscellaneous reels in drawers labeled Business Group. The business directories are listed on their own page in this guide and are therefore not included on the separate state pages.
• A separate microfiche collection of pre-1861 U.S. directories is also available on a self-service basis in the Microform and Electronic Resources Center. Dorothea Spear's American Directories Before 1860 is a guide to this collection.

Microfilm and Microfiche (By Request)

• There are additional directories for New Jersey towns, labeled Supplemental New Jersey Directories. These directories have been microfilmed by several historical societies in New Jersey. They are not self-service, but can be requested in the Microform and Electronic Resources Center.

None of these directories are available on interlibrary loan; nor can the staff of the Library of Congress search these directories for names of individuals or organizations. If you would like to hire a researcher to examine the directories for you, view this list of links to free-lance researchers in the greater Washington D.C. area who perform research for a fee.