Virginia Directories
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Online Resources[edit | edit source]
- Virginia Online Historical Directories - listed by county and independent city
- Virginia City Directories links
History[edit | edit source]
City and county directories are similar to present-day telephone books and are useful records for locating people. They were often published annually, listing heads of households, employed household members, and their occupations and addresses. They can be used with census records or as substitutes for them.
Directories have been published for various cities and counties since the mid 1800s, though they may not exist for every year. Some directories focus on the businesses or occupations of an area, while others include heads of households and landowners.
Resources for Virginia Directories[edit | edit source]
Libraries and Archives[edit | edit source]
Directories Online[edit | edit source]
Ancestry.com ($) has Virginia directories available online in its U.S. City Directories collection.
The Family History Library[edit | edit source]
The Family History Library has city directories for various years from throughout the state of Virginia including:
Richmond City
- 1819-1860 Family History Library fiche 6044391-400
- 1866-1935 Family History Library films 1377370-84 and 1605945-66
Norfolk City
- 1801, 1806, 1851, 1859, 1860 Family History Library fiche 6044285-89
- 1866-1901 Family History Library films 1377209-15
- 1902-1923 Family History Library films 1844188-202
- 1924-1935 Family History Library films 1844311-17
For prominent individuals of the colonial era, the Family History Library has name directories such as:
- Stanard, William G. The Colonial Virginia Register 1902. Reprint, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1965. (Family History Library book 975.5 N2s 1965; film 982250 item 4.) Gives position and sometimes birth and death information.
To find directories, consult the Place Search of the FamilySearch Catalog under:
- VIRGINIA, [COUNTY] — DIRECTORIES
- VIRGINIA, [COUNTY], [TOWN] — DIRECTORIES
Websites[edit | edit source]
- Norfolk, Virginia 1859 City Directory
- US City Directories This website identifies printed, microfilmed, and online directories and their repositories.
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