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

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 Family History Library
The Family History Library has the following, some on microfilm, some on microfiche:


 * Concord 1830–1935 (gaps)
 * Dover 1830–1935 (gaps)
 * Great Falls 1848 (now Somersworth)
 * Keene 1827, 1830, 1831, 1871–1935 (gaps)
 * Manchester 1844–1935 (gaps)
 * Nashua 1841–1935 (gaps)
 * New Hampshire 1849
 * New Ipswich 1858
 * Peterborough 1830
 * Portsmouth 1817–1935 (gaps)

To locate the source numbers for the directories at the Family History Library, use the Place Search.

Example: NEW HAMPSHIRE, [COUNTY], [TOWN] - DIRECTORIES

For more information about the Library Catalog, see FamilySearch Catalog.