New Hampshire Directories

Online Resources

 * New Hampshire City Directories, index
 * New Hampshire Online Historical Directories - listed by county
 * Directory of the Ancestral Heads of New England Families, 1620-1700. Online at: ; images; Ancestry ($); index & images

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 New Hampshire Historical Society has an excellent collection of city directories. For the address, see New Hampshire Societies.

Public libraries often have city directories for their areas. College and university libraries often have larger collections of city directories. For lists of these libraries with contact information, see PublicLibraries.com and SearchBug.com

The Portsmouth Public Library has a complete run of Portsmouth City Directories beginning in 1821. Portsmouth Public Library 175 Parrott Avenue Portsmouth, NH 03801 (603) 766-1723 libinfo@cityofportsmouth.com

Directories Online
Ancestry.com ($) has New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire including:

Concord

1834, 1844, 1848, 1850, 1856, 1860/61 FamilySearch Library microfilm 6043838-6043844

1902-1935 FamilySearch Library microfilm 1759667-1759673

Keene

1901–1935 FamilySearch Library microfilm 1843989-1843994

Manchester

1844–1860 FamilySearch Library microfilm 6044088-6044096

1864-1898 FamilySearch Library microfilm 1377025-1377031

1902-1935 FamilySearch Library microfilm 1611729-1611739

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


 * NEW HAMPSHIRE, [COUNTY] — DIRECTORIES
 * NEW HAMPSHIRE, [COUNTY], [TOWN] — DIRECTORIES

Websites

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