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:
- FamilySearch – United States Directories
- How to Use City Directories In Your Genealogy Research
- What’s In A City Directory? (a 10 article series about City 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 September 2021)
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
- A Gazetteer of the state of Maine, 1881
- Directory of Maine pioneer ancestors
- Directory of the Manufacturing Industries of Maine, 1910
- Directory of the Manufacturing Industries of Maine, 1914
- Directory of the Manufacturing Industries of Maine, 1950
- Directory of the Manufacturing Industries of Maine, 1952
- Directory of the Manufacturing Industries of Maine, 1956
- Directory of the Manufacturing Industries of Maine, 1958
- Maine Business Directory, Union Publishing Company, 1893
- Maine Industries 1939
- Maine Register or state year-book and legislative manual, 1888
- Maine Register, for the year 1855
- New England Business Directory, Sampson & Murdock, 1916 (Part 1)
- New England Business Directory, Sampson & Murdock, 1918 (Part 1)
- The Maine Register, and Business Directory, 1856
- The Maine state Directory and gazetteer, 1893
Albion
Androscoggin County
- The Androscoggin County Directory, 1906-07
- The Androscoggin County Directory, 1910-11
- The Androscoggin County Directory, 1914-15
- The Androscoggin County Directory, 1918-19
Appleton
- Appleton Business Directory, unknown, 1951
- Appleton Register, 1903
- Appleton Register, 1903
- Appleton Register, 1903
- Appleton Register, 1951
- Appleton Register, 1972
- Appleton Town Directory, Pease, 1903
Augusta
Bangor
- Bangor and Brewer City and Penobscot County Directories, Smith, 1859-60
- Bangor, Maine, City Directory, 1919
- The Bangor City Directory – 1864-1865
Belfast
Biddeford
Bridgton
- 1929-1930 Directory of Bridgton, Casco, Harrison, Naples and Raymond
- The Bridgton Town Register, 1905
Brunswick
Camden
Casco
Casco Bay
China
East Somerset County
Ellsworth
Exeter
Farmington
Harrison
Kennebec County
- Resident and business directory of Kennebec County, Maine, including cities of Augusta, Gardiner, Hallowell and Waterville, 1905-06
- Resident and business directory of Kennebec County, Maine, including cities of Augusta, Gardiner, Hallowell and Waterville, 1915-16
Lewiston
- Bates College bulletin. Alumnus issue, 1954
- Lewiston, Maine, City Directory, 1872
- Lewiston, Maine, City Directory, 1891
- Lewiston, Maine, City Directory, 1893-94
Lewiston and Auburn
- Greenough, Jones & Co.’s Directory in the cities of Lewiston & Auburn, 1872
- Greenough, Jones & Co.’s Directory in the cities of Lewiston & Auburn, 1891
- Greenough, Jones & Co.’s Directory in the cities of Lewiston & Auburn, 1893-1894
Lincolnville
Meredith
Mt. Vernon
Naples
Orono
- Alumni Directory of the University of Maine, 1912
- Alumni Directory of the University of Maine, 1914
- Alumni Directory of the University of Maine, 1933
- Alumni Directory of the University of Maine, 1938
Oxford County
Portland
- Directory of Portland – 1940
- Directory of Portland : including the City of South Portland and the Town of Cape Elizabeth, 1905
- Directory of Portland : including the City of South Portland and the Town of Cape Elizabeth, 1906
- Directory of Portland : including the City of South Portland and the Town of Cape Elizabeth, 1907
- Directory of Portland : including the City of South Portland and the Town of Cape Elizabeth, 1908
- Directory of Portland : including the City of South Portland and the Town of Cape Elizabeth, 1910
- Directory of Portland : including the City of South Portland and the Town of Cape Elizabeth, 1911
- Directory of Portland : including the City of South Portland and the Town of Cape Elizabeth, 1912 pt. 2
- Directory of Portland : including the City of South Portland and the Town of Cape Elizabeth, 1912, pt. 1
- Directory of Portland : including the City of South Portland and the Town of Cape Elizabeth, 1914
- Directory of Portland : including the City of South Portland and the Town of Cape Elizabeth, 1921
- Directory of Portland : including the City of South Portland and the Town of Cape Elizabeth, 1940
- Directory of Portland : including the City of South Portland and the Town of Cape Elizabeth, 1942
- Directory of Portland : including the City of South Portland and the Town of Cape Elizabeth, 1953
- Directory of Portland and vicinity : complete street Directory 1900
- Directory of the City of Portland : and of the Towns of Cape Elizabeth, Deering, Westbrook and Falmouth 1882
- Gorham State College Alumni Directory 1879-1969
- Polk Portland, Maine, City Directory, 1912
- Portland City Directory, Beckett, 1850-1
- Portland City Directory, Beckett, 1850-1
- Portland City Directory, Polk, 1957
- Portland City Directory, Polk, 1959
- Portland City Directory, Polk, 1962
- Portland City Directory, Portland Directory Company, 1912
- Portland City Directory, Portland Directory Company, 1912
- Portland, Maine, Directory and reference book, 1858-59
- The Portland Directory and Register – 1823
- The Portland Directory, for the year … – 1841
- The Portland reference book and City Directory for … – 1850-1851
- The Portland Reference Book and City Directory, 1850-51
Raymond
Rockport
Saco
- 1849 Saco and Biddeford Directory
- Biddeford and Saco Directory 1913
- The Saco Register : with Old Orchard, 1906
Sanford
Sidney
St. George
- St. George chronicles, with the names and ages of the inhabitants, 1892
- St. George chronicles: with names, ages and dates of birth, a complete Business Directory, 1932
Vassalboro
Warren
Waterford
Waterville
- Colby College, Address book of officers and graduates, 1905
- Manning’s Waterville, Skowhegan, Fairfield, Oakland and Winslow, Maine, Directory – 1931
Westbrook
Yarmouth
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
For other Free Maine Links, click on the category of interest:
Newspapers
Yearbooks
Births
Marriages
Deaths
BMD Records
Alumni Records
Cemetery Records
Church Records
Coroner Records
Criminal Records
Directories
Divorce Records
Immigration Records
Military Records
Mortuary Records
Naturalizations
Obituaries
Photos
Probate and Wills
School Records
Tax Records
Voter Records
One reply on “Free Online Maine City Directories”
I love all the resources you’ve compiled. However, this list has one error. Wolfeboro is in New Hampshire, not Maine. I spent summers on Lake Winnipesaukee and had many ice cream cones in Wolfeboro. 🙂