Free Online Alaska City Directories

City and business directories are available online from all over the U.S. and are what I consider another important set of information that can assist you in advancing your family history and genealogy research.

This activity of presenting links is a collaborative effort between The Ancestor Hunt and Miriam Robbins, who for years has made available the Online Historical Directories website, which presents links to directories of all types that are available online, including free collections as well as those available only via subscription. I wish to thank Miriam for her help in launching this category of records at The Ancestor Hunt.

So, what kinds of directories are available to the researcher?  Naturally city and business directories, but also telephone directories, and alumni, farm, lodge, rural, and social directories.

What can you find in these records? How about:

  • Full names, including middle names
  • Spouse name
  • Occupation
  • Widows, working women, and adult children at home.
  • Maps
  • Businesses (and index to advertisers).
  • Addresses and maps of churches, schools, funeral homes, cemeteries, post offices, courts, hospitals, benevolent associations, newspapers.
  • Whether a woman is a widow (including name of husband).
  • List of marriages and deaths of previous year.
  • Death date.
  • etc.

Here are a few good primers on the benefits of searching historical city and other directories:​

And here are various places where you can find other city directories online: 

Note: Some links listed take you to a FamilySearch Collection of digital images. Near the bottom of the page under Film/Digital Notes is the name of each sub-collection. If there is a camera icon at the right of the name (in the Format column) then the collections’ images are browsable. If there is a camera with a key icon, it is only available at a Family History Center or affiliated library. If there is a film reel icon, then it is only available in microfilm format, not digital. To take full advantage make sure that you are logged in to FamilySearch. The results may be different if you are signed in, rather than not.

(Updated March 2024)

Alaska City Directories

Links to these free collections are presented initially with statewide collections, followed in alphabetical order by city or county. Generally, the publishing company is included in the reference to the collection, along with the collection title, and the date(s) of the directory:

Statewide

Aleutian Islands

Aleutian Islands East Borough & Aleutian Islands West Census Area

Anchorage

Annette Island

Bethel-Wade Hampton Census Area

Bristol Bay – Dillingham Borough

Cordova

Fairbanks

Haines Borough

Juneau

Juneau Borough

Kenai Peninsula Borough

Ketchikan

Ketchikan-Prince of Wales-Hyder Borough

Kodiak Island Borough

Koyukuk

Lake and Peninsula Borough

Matanuska-Susitna Borough

Mt. Edgecumbe

Nome

Nome Census Area

North Slope Borough

Northwest Arctic Borough

Petersburg

Prince of Wales

Sitka Borough

Valdez-Cordova Census Area

Wrangell-Petersburg Borough

Yakutat Borough

Yukon

Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area


For all Free Alaska Collection Links in 24 Genealogy Categories, go to the By Location Page, click on Alaska, and then click on the category of interest.

Good Luck and Happy Hunting!

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