Free Online Kentucky 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 July 2023)

Kentucky 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

Annville

Ashland

Barbourville

Bellevue

Booneville

Bromley

Campbell County

Catlettsburg

Clifton

Covington

Dayton

Fayette County

Ford

Fort Thomas

Georgetown

Greenville

Hopkinsville

Ingalls Park

Jefferson County

Latonia

Lexington

Louisville

Ludlow

Madisonville

Maysville

McKee

Milldale

Muhlenberg County

    Newport

    Nicholasville

    Owensboro

    Paducah

    Richmond

    Sand Gap

    Versailles

    Waco

    Winchester

    Woodlawn

    Good Luck and Happy Hunting!

    For other Free Kentucky Links, click on the category of interest:

    Newspapers
    Yearbooks
    Births
    Marriages
    Deaths
    BMD Records
    Alumni Records
    Cemetery Records
    Church Records
    Coroner Records
    Criminal Records
    Digital Archives
    Directories
    Divorce Records
    Immigration Records
    Institutional Records
    Military Records
    Mortuary Records
    Naturalizations
    Obituaries
    Photos
    Probate and Wills
    School Records
    Tax Records
    Voter Records

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