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Free Online New York City Directories – The Ancestor Hunt

Free Online New York 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 October 2022)

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

Auburn

Batavia

Binghamton

Brockport Village

Bronx

Brooklyn

Broome County

Buffalo

Canandaigua

Chautauqua County

Chemung County

Chenango County

Columbia County

Corning

Cortland

Cortland County

East Rochester Village

Erie County

Fairport

Flushing

Fulton County

Genesee County

Geneva

Glens Falls

Granville

Herkimer County

Ithaca

Jamestown

Jefferson County

Kings County

Lewis County

Livingston County

Long Island

Lowville

Madison County

Malone

Monroe County

Montgomery County

Nassau County

New York City

Niagara County

Norwich and Oxford

Norwich, Oxford, and Sherburne

Ogdenburg

Oneida County

Oneonta

Onondaga County

Ontario County

Orleans County

Oswego County

Otsego County

Patchogue Village

Penn Yan

Pittsford

Queens

Rensselaer County

Rochester

Saratoga County

Saratoga Springs

Schenectady

Schenectady and Scotia

Schoharie County

Schuyler County

Seneca County

Seneca Falls

St Lawrence County

Staten Island

Steuben County

Suffolk County

Sullivan County

Syracuse

Syracuse and Utica

Tioga County

Tompkins County

Ulster County

Utica

Watertown

Wayne County

Wyoming County

Yates County

Good Luck and Happy Hunting!

For all Free New York 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
Place Finder
Probate and Wills
Research Toolkit
School Records
Tax Records
Voter Records

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