Free Online Ohio 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 August 2023)

Ohio 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

Akron

Allen County

Alliance

Amanda

Ashland County

Auglaize County

Baltimore

Barberton

Bellaire

Bellevue

Belmont County

Bluffton

Bridgeport

Bromley

Bucyrus

Butler County

Canal Winchester

Canton

Carroll

Centerburg

Chillicothe

Cincinnati

Circleville

Clark County

Clermont County

Cleveland

Clinton County

Collinwood

Columbus

Conneaut

Covington

Crawford County

Crestline

Cuyahoga Falls

Darke County

Dayton

Delaware

Delphos

East Liverpool

Eaton

Elyria

Euclid

Fayette County

Fort Thomas

Franklin County

Fredericktown

Fremont

Fulton County

Galion

Gambier

Granville

Greene County

Groveport

Hamilton

Hamilton County

Hancock County

Hopkinsville

Huron County

Kent

Kenton

Knox County

Lancaster

Latonia

Licking County

Lockland

Logan

Logan County

Lorain County

Ludlow

Mansfield

Marion County

Marion County

Martin’s Ferry

Marysville

Massillon

Medina County

Mercer County

Miami County

MIddleport

Middletown

Milldale

Minerva

Montgomery County

Montpelier

Mount Vernon

Muncie

Newark

Newport

Norwalk

Norwood

Oberlin

Pandora

Pickerington

Piqua

Pleasantville

Pomeroy

Portage County

Portsmouth

Preble County

Reading

Reynoldsburg

Richland County

Rushville

Sandusky

Scioto County

Sebring

Seneca County

Sidney

Springfield

Stark County

Steubenville

Sugar Grove

Thurston

Tiffin

Toledo

Uhrichsville

Van Wert

Van Wert County

Warren County

Washington Court House

Wheeling

Williams County

Wilmington

Wood County

Wooster

Wyandot County

Youngstown

Zanesville


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

Good Luck and Happy Hunting!

3 replies on “Free Online Ohio City Directories”

Hello,
I just wanted to let you know that the directories with the dates in brackets listed under “Hamilton County” are actually “City of Hamilton” (Butler County) directories. They originated from Lane Public Library, our repository, and were digitized by PLCH.
Thanks,
Brad

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I’m confused with this. It is labelled as “Hamilton County” in the title created by the Cincinnati Library, and even some of the actual directories state “Hamilton County” Could you help me understand the mislabeling and proper labeling?

I think that what Brad was referring to is the fact that in your list you have combined the listings from Hamilton County with the ones from the City of Hamilton. The division point should be between the following two entries:

Williams’ Hamilton County Directory for 1911-12
Williams’ Hamilton Directory [1858-1859]

The ones listed as Williams’ Hamilton Directory (from this dividing point to the end of the list) should be referenced as Hamilton (the city) which is in Butler County.

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