Deciphering City Directory Entries

U.S. city directories are treasure troves for historians, offering much more than just addresses. Since the early 1800s, these annual publications have provided detailed snapshots of individuals and their communities, capturing occupations, relationships, and local businesses. Much like today’s phone books, city and county directories serve as valuable tools for tracking people and understanding the social fabric of the past. Without question, they are one of my favorite resources for researching people, businesses and communities!

Bangor and Brewer Directory (1885)

City directories typically include an alphabetical listing of residents, organized by name, address, and occupation. They may also list widows, working women, and adult children living at home. Some directories indicate a wife’s name in parentheses or note if a woman is a widow, often including her late husband’s name. Additionally, directories sometimes feature lists of marriages and deaths from the previous year, along with death dates.

Directories also contain useful reference materials such as ward maps, street locators with cross streets, and information about street name changes. They list businesses (often with an advertiser index) and provide addresses and maps for churches, schools, funeral homes, cemeteries, post offices, courts, hospitals, benevolent associations, and newspapers.

Much of this information may be abbreviated. The following table shows common abbreviations found in U.S. city directories. When understood in context, these abbreviations offer valuable insights into a person’s lifestyle, circumstances, and the community where they lived. City directories can also serve as substitutes for census records, especially for the 1890 Federal Census, which was largely destroyed by fire in the 1920s.

For more details on city directories and how to use them in family or community history research, see Direct Me NYC 1786: A History of City Directories in the United States and New York City by Philip Sutton, available from the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy (June 8, 2012).

ABBREVIATION	TERM
ab	above
agcy	agency
agt	agent
al	alley
agrl	agricultural
apt	apartment
assn, Assn	Association
auto	automobile
av, Av	avenue
b, bdg, bds	boards (room and board)
bdg hse	boarding house
bel	below
bet	between
bld, bldg	building
blk	block
blvd, boul	boulevard
br	branch
bros	brothers
c, cor	corner
causew	causeway
ch, Ch	church
chmbrs	chambers
civ	civil, civic
ck	creek
co	county
col, col'd	colored
coll	college
com	commission, commons
com'l	commercial
confry	confectionary
cres	crescent
ct	court
dept	department
dist	district
div	division
do	ditto (or the same as above)
dom	domestic
drugst	drugstore
e, E	east
Ea	east
elec	electric
e.s.	east side
est	estate
ex, exch	exchange
f	freeholder
fcty	factory
fl	floor
for	forest
ft	foot
frt	freight
gdns	gardens
gds	goods
gen, genl	general
govt	government
gr fl	ground floor
gt	great
h	house, householder (owns the house)
hd	hand
hdqtrs	headquarters
hdw	hardware
heth	heath
hngr	hangar
ho	house
hosp	hospital
imp	import
implts	implements
imptr	importer
inc	incorporated
ins	insurance
jct	junction
l	lives
la	lane
lbr	lumber
ldg	lodging
ltd, Ltd	Limited
mdse	merchandise
mer	merchant
mfg	manufacturing
mfr	manufacturer
mkt	market
mn	man
mut	mutual
n, N	north
n, nr	near
n.e.	northeast
n.s.	north side
n.w.	northwest
natl	national
off	office
op, opp	opposite
pass	passenger
ph	penthouse
pk	park
pkwy	parkway
pl	place
p.o.	post office
pt	point
propr	proprietor (owner)
prov	province
r	roomer or resides (renter)
r, rr	rear
R.C.	Roman Catholic
rd	road
regd	registered
real est	real estate
res	residence, resides
ret	retail, retired
rm	room
rms	rooms (renter)
RR	rural route
rw	row
Ry	railway
s, S	south
sch	school
s.e.	southeast or side entrance
ship	shipping
side	side entrance
soc	society
spec	special
sq	square
st	store
s.s.	south side
sta	stable
sta, stn	station
sum res	summer residence
s.w.	southwest
t	tenant
tav	tavern
tel	telephone
teleg	telegraph
ter	terrace
tn	town
tp	township
trans	transportation
trans	transfer
trav	travelling
up	upper
var	variety
w, W	west
ware	warehouse
wf, whf	wharf
w.s.	west side
whol	wholesale
wid	widow
wks	works
wlk	walk
wmn	woman
yd	yard

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