Virginia Directories

Online Resources

 * Virginia Online Historical Directories - listed by county and independent city
 * Virginia City Directories links

History
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.

Directories Online
Ancestry.com ($) has Virginia directories available online in its U.S. City Directories collection.

The Family History Library
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
 * 1866-1935 Family History Library films

Norfolk City


 * 1801, 1806, 1851, 1859, 1860 Family History Library fiche
 * 1866-1901 Family History Library films
 * 1902-1923 Family History Library films
 * 1924-1935 Family History Library films

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. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library; . 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

 * Norfolk, Virginia 1859 City Directory
 * US City Directories This website identifies printed, microfilmed, and online directories and their repositories.