California Directories

United States U.S. Directories  California  Directories

Directories of heads of households were published for major cities of California.

Libraries and Archives

 * California State Libraries City Directory Database


 * The Los Angeles Public Library has the following with a few small gaps in the years available. The 1872 directory is a combination city-county one.

Directories Online

 * CSGA Research Guide - Directories Includes links to articles on using directories in your research as well as links to California directory bibliographies and online databases.


 * Cailfornia Online Historical Directories.


 * Fold3.com ($) has Los Angeles Directories 1873, 1875, 1878-1924 (5 yrs. missing) and San Francisco Directories 1861-1923 (4 yrs. missing) available online. This database is sometimes free at libraries.

The Family History Library
See specific counties for listings of directories for that county. The Family History Library, for example, has:

Los Angeles

San Francisco

Web Sites

 * Los Angeles Public Library
 * Ancestry.com($)
 * Distant Cousin
 * US City Directories This web site identifies printed, microfilmed, and online directories and their repositories.