City of Salem, Massachusetts 1837 City Directory Why should I use old, outdated Massachusetts city directories for my family history research? You might say, aren't these just really old telephone books?
From the year 1798 and up through the early 1980's, Massachusetts city and town directories offer an abundance of terrific clues and research tips about finding people and institutions from the past. Most of this information cannot be found elsewhere.
The older city directories are much like telephone books from the 90's except they offer a better panorama or "birds eye view" into the makeup of a community at a particular time period.
For example, do you need to know the names of all Boston Methodist church organizations in the year 1900? Do you need to find the names of all cemeteries that were in existence in Lowell in 1870? Do you need a list of all civic and social organizations in 1925 Worcester?
It's all in the Massachusetts city directories!
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