North Carolina Directories

United StatesU.S. DirectoriesNorth Carolina Directories

City and county directories are similar to present-day telephone books and are useful for locating people. They were often published annually, listing heads of households, employed household members, and their occupations, and addresses. They can be used with census records or as substitutes for them.

City directories have been published for some cities in North Carolina. Many of these are located in local libraries in the state.

Directories Available Online
Ancestry.com ($) has North Carolina city directories available online in its U.S. City Directories collection.

The following North Carolina state-wide directories are available online:


 * Branson's Business Directories -- 1867/1868, 1869, 1872, 1890, 1896
 * North Carolina Yearbook &amp; Business Directory -1901 | 1902 | 1903 | 1904 | 1905 | 1906 | 1907 | 1908 | 1909 | 1910 | 1911 | 1912 | 1913 | 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1922 | 1923

Family History Library
The Family History Library has directories to some cities such as Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, and Durham. Directories can be found in the Family History Library by using a Place Search under:

NORTH CAROLINA - DIRECTORIES NORTH CAROLINA, [COUNTY] - DIRECTORIES NORTH CAROLINA, [COUNTY], [TOWN]- DIRECTORIES

Web Sites

 * US City Directories This web site identifies printed, microfilmed, and online directories and their repositories.