California Directories

Online Resources

 * California City Directories ($)
 * San Francisco, California Directories, 1889-91 ($)
 * California City Directories

History
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

 * Fold3 ($) 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.


 * Ancestry ($) has California directories available online in its U.S. City Directories collection.

The Family History Library
The Family History Library has city directories for various years from throughout the state of California including:

Los Angeles

San Francisco

To find directories, consult the Place Search of the FamilySearch Catalog under:


 * CALIFORNIA, [COUNTY] — DIRECTORIES
 * CALIFORNIA, [COUNTY], [TOWN] — DIRECTORIES

Websites

 * Los Angeles Public Library
 * Ancestry($)
 * US City Directories. Identifies printed, microfilmed, and online directories and their repositories.