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Free Online Pennsylvania City Directories – The Ancestor Hunt

Free Online Pennsylvania 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

Adams County

Aliquippa

Allegheny City and Pittsburgh

Allentown

Altoona

Ambridge

Ardmore

Ashland

Atglen

Avalon

Bangor

Barnesboro

Beaver County

Beaver Valley

Bedford

Bedford County

Bellefonte

Berks County

Berwick

Bethlehem

Blairsville

Bradford

Bradford County

Brockway

Brookville

Brownsville

Butler

Butler County

Carbondale

Carlisle

Chambersbiurg

Chester

Clairton

Clarks Summit

Clearfield

Coatesville

Columbia

Columbia County

Connellsville

Coudersport

Crawford County

Dallas

Danville

Dauphin

Delaware County

Derry

Donora

Doylestown

Dubois

Duquesne

Eastern Montgomery County

Easton

Ebensburg

Eldred

Elizabethville

Ellwood City

Erie

Erie County

Everett

Fleetwood

Ford City

Gettysburg

Greene County

Greensburg

Greenville

Grove City

Harrisburg

Hazleton

Homestead Borough

Honesdale

Indiana

Indiana County

Irwin

Jim Thorpe

Johnstown

Kane

Kittanning

Knox

Lackawanna County

Lancaster City and County

Lansdale

Lawrence County

Lebanon

Lehighton

Lewisburg

Lewistown

Littlestown

Lower Bucks County

Luzerne County

Lycoming County

McKeesport

Meadville

Mechanicsburg

Mercer County

Mifflintown

Monessen

Monongahela

Monroe County

Monroeville

Montgomery County

Moosic

Mount Carmel

Mount Pleasant

Nanticoke

Nanty Glo

New Castle

New Kensignton

Norristown

North East

North Pittsburgh

North Side

Northumberland County

Oil City

Philadelphia

Phillipsburg

Phoenixville

Pittsburgh

Pittston

Pottstown

Pottsville

Punxutawney

Quakertown

Quarryville

Reading

Ridgway

Scranton

Shamokin

Sharon

Shenango Valley

Shickshinny

Snyder County

Southern Chester County

State College

Suburban Philadelphia

Tioga County

Towanda

Tower City

Tyrone

Vandergrift

Warren

Warriors Mark

Washington

Washington County

Waynesboro

Waynesburg

Wellsboro

West Chester

Western Delaware County

Westmoreland County

Williamsport

Wyoming County

York

Zelienople

Good Luck and Happy Hunting!

For all Free Pennsylvania 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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