Free Online Iowa 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, 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 of the 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, please make sure that you are logged in to FamilySearch. The results may be different if you are signed in, rather than not.

(Updated April 2024)

Iowa 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

Ackley

Adams County

Afton

Albia

Alden

Allison

Alta Vista

Alvord

Ames

Atlantic

Bellevue

Benton County

Black Hawk County

Boone

Boone County

Bremer County

Buchanan County

Buena Vista County

Burlington

Butler County

Calhoun County

Carroll

Cedar County

Cedar Falls

Cedar Rapids

Cerro Gordo County

Charles City

Cherokee County

Cherokee to Clare

Clarke County

Clay County

Clayton County

Clear Lake

Clinton

Clinton County

Council Bluffs

Crawford County

Dallas County

Davenport

Davis County

Decorah

Des Moines

Des Moines and Polk County

Des Moines County

Dickinson County

Dubuque

Dubuque County

Fayette County

Floyd County

Fort Dodge

Fort Madison

Fremont County

Greene County

Grinnell

Guthrie Center to Hampton

Hamilton County

Hancock County

Hardin County

Harrison County

Henry County

Humboldt County

Ida County

Iowa City

Iowa County

Iowa Falls

Jackson County

Jasper County

Jefferson County

Johnson County

Jones County

Keokuk

Kossuth County

Lake View to Laporte City

Lee County

Linn County

Louisa County

Lucas County

Madison County

Manchester

Marion

Marion County

Marshall County

Marshalltown

Mason City

Mills County

Mitchell County

Montgomery County

Mount Pleasant

Mount Vernon

Muscatine

Muscatine County

Newton

O’Brien County

Oelwein

Osceola County

Oskaloosa

Ottumwa

Page County

Palo Alto County

Plymouth County

Pocahontas County

Polk County

Pottawattamie County

Poweshiek County

Red Oak

Ringgold County

Scott County

Shelby County

Shenandoah

Sioux City

Siouxland

Spencer

Spencer to Spirit Lake

Storm Lake

Story County

Tama County

Taylor County

Union County

Valley Junction

Van Buren County

Wapello County

Washington

Washington County

Waterloo

Wayne County

Webster City

Webster County

Winnebago County

Winneshiek County

Woodbury County

Worth County


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

Good Luck and Happy Hunting!

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