Free Online Illinois City Directories

The Ancestor Hunt regularly adds and updates new collection links, as well as searches for and fixes broken links.
(This page's most recent update is August 2025)

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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, and newspapers.
  • Whether a woman is a widow (including the name of her husband).
  • List of marriages and deaths of the 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 to the right of the name (in the Format column), then the collection’s 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.

Illinois 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

Statewide Farmer

Adams County

Alton

Arlington Heights

    Belleville

    Belvidere

    Bethalto

    Bloomington

    Boone County

    Bureau County

    Cairo

    Calhoun County

    Carbondale

    Carroll County

    Cass County

    Champaign and Urbana

    Champaign County

    Champaign-Urbana

    Chicago

    Christian County

    Coles County

    Cook County

    Decatur

    DeKalb County

    Douglas County

    DuPage County

    East St. Louis

    Edgar County

    Effingham County

    Elgin

    Elmwood

    Eola

    Evanston

    Fairbury

    Ford County

    Fulton County

    Galena

    Galesburg

    Glenview

    Grundy County

    Hancock County

    Jacksonville

    Jefferson

    Jo Daviess County

    Joliet

    Kanakee County

    Kane County

    Kankakee

    Kendall County

    Kewanee

    La Salle County

    Lake

    Lake County

    Leadville

    Lee County

    Libertyville

    Lisle

    Lockport

    Logan County

    Madison County

    Mason County

    McHenry County

    Menard County

    Moline

    Momence

    Monroe County

    Montgomery County

    Morgan County

    Mount Prospect

    Naperville

    Ogle County

    Paris

    Peoria

      Pike County

      Plainfield

      Princeton

      Quincy

      Randolph County

      Rockdale

      Rockford

      Rogers Park

      Romeoville

      Sangamon County

      Scott County

      Shelby County

      Shelbyville

      Springfield

      St. Clair County

      Stephenson County

      Tazewell County

      Urbana Champaign

      Wheaton

      Whiteside County

      Will County

      Wilmette

      Winnebago County

      Woodford County

      Woodstock


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

      Good Luck and Happy Hunting!

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