Free Online New York 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 April 2025)

City and business directories are available online from all over the U.S. and are 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.

New York 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

Albany

Albany County

Allegany County

Antrim

Auburn

Baldwinsville

Batavia

Binghamton

Brockport Village

Bronx

Brooklyn

Broome County

Buffalo

Canandaigua

Canastota

Cattaraugus County

Cayuga County

Chautauqua County

Chemung County

Chenango County

Clinton

Clyde

Cohoes

Columbia County

Corning

Cortland

Cortland County

Durhamville

East Rochester Village

Elmira

Erie County

Fairport

Fayetteville

Fishkill

Flushing

Fulton

Fulton County

Genesee County

Geneva

Glens Falls

Granville

Green Island

Herkimer County

Hillsdale

Homer

Ithaca

Jamestown

Jefferson County

Kenwood

    Lansingburg

    Lewis County

    Liverpool

    Livingston County

    Long Island

    Lowville

    Lyons

    Lysander

    Madison County

    Malone

    Manhattan/Bronx

    Manlius

    Marathon

    McGraw

    Monroe County

    Montgomery County

    Nassau County

    New York City

    Newark

    Niagara County

    Norwich

    Ogdenburg

    Ogdensburg

    Oneida

    Oneida Castle

    Oneida County

    Oneonta

    Onondaga County

    Ontario County

    Orleans County

    Oswego

    Oswego County

    Oswego Falls

    Otsego County

    Owego

    Oxford

    Palmyra

    Patchogue Village

    Penn Yan

    Phoenix

    Pittsford

    Plattsburgh

    Poughkeepsie

    Pulaski

    Putnam County

    Queens

    Queens County

    Rensselaer County

    Richland

    Rochester

    Rome

    Saratoga County

    Saratoga Springs

    Savannah

    Schenectady

    Schenectady and Scotia

    Schenectady County

    Schoharie County

    Schuyler County

    Schuyler County

    Scotia

    Seneca County

    Seneca Falls

    Sherburne

    Sherman

    Sherrill

    Skaneateles

    St Lawrence County

    Staten Island

    Steuben County

    Suffolk County

    Sullivan County

    Syracuse

    Syracuse and Utica

    Tioga County

    Tompkins County

    Trenton

    Troy

    Ulster County

    Utica

    Wampsville

    Washington County

    Waterloo

    Watertown

    Watervliet

    Wayne County

    West Point

    Westchester County

    Williamsburg

    Williamsburgh

    Wyoming County

    Yates

    Yates County


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

    Good Luck and Happy Hunting!

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