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(This page's most recent update is December 2025)
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Old telephone directories and telephone exchange records are overlooked but powerful tools for tracking ancestors between census years, identifying residences, confirming occupations, and locating relatives and associates living nearby. These materials can help genealogists follow families as they moved, discover name and address changes, and reconstruct neighborhoods or business networks. This Quicksheet explains how to use residential and business phone books, reverse directories, and historical telephone exchange lists to uncover hidden clues about your ancestors’ lives.
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For all the previously published Quick Reference Guides, click on QuickSheets.
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