Delaware Directories

Online Resources

 * 19th Century Immigrant Roots, Records for Wilmington, Delaware and Vicinity Search engine, index, Record Inventory

History
Directories are alphabetical lists of names and addresses. City directories can help you learn where an ancestor lived. The person’s occupation is frequently given. Often the home address and business address are both mentioned. When a husband dies, many times the widow is listed as "widow of...."

Directories can help you determine which jurisdictional ward the family lived in if you are searching census records for a particular time period in a big city. Directories sometimes have maps and addresses of churches, cemeteries, courthouses, and other important locations.

Libraries and Archives
The most extensive collections of city and business directories are at the University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware 19717-5267. The Delaware Public Archives has directories from 1814 to the 1970s. The Historical Society of Delaware also has a large collection of directories for Wilmington, the state of Delaware, and the Delmarva Peninsula.

Directories Online
Ancestry.com ($) has Delaware directories available online in its U.S. City Directories collection.

The FamilySearch Library
The FamilySearch Library has city directories for various years from throughout the state of Delaware including:

Wilmington

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


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

Websites

 * Wilmington 1889 City Directory