Fantastic Find: "5 Tips for Getting the Most from City Directories" from Ancestry Blog

There's my 3rd great grandfather, George W Hartley, shoemaker, in the 1831 Cincinnati city directory, right where I expected him to be.

Linda Barnickel over at Ancestry Blog wrote a great post a few weeks ago, "5 Tips for Getting the Most from City Directories".  I've already used Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and San Diego city directories quite a bit over the past few years, and yet I always get more out of them each time I go back.

From the same 1831 Cincinnati city directory that George Hartley was in, here is a rundown on their steamboat statistics, reminding me that steamboats were kind of a big deal back then.

Lately I've been thinking about how my ancestors traveled, and what kind of regular transportation routes were available to them, and as Linda points out, many city directories give some mention of them.  I think it is time I reexamine them once more.

Worth a read!



BTW Even though Fold3 is primarily a military focused site, they also provide non-military records, including their city directory collection, which is quite extensive.  It includes most major American cities from the early 1800's to about 1923.  And of course Ancestry has a huge amount of city directories throughout the US, some even into the early 1970's.




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