Find Street and Residential Information for Family History
Salem, Massachusetts 1837 City Directory
Why should I use old, outdated Massachusetts city directories for my family history research?
From as far back as the colonial days of George Washington in 1798 and up through the early 1980s, existing Massachusetts city directories offer many terrific clues and research tips about finding people and institutions from the past.
You cannot find most of this information anywhere else.
Older city directories are much like telephone books from the 90s, except they offer a better panorama or "birds' eye view" into the makeup of a community at a particular time.
For example, do you need to know the names of all Boston Methodist church organizations in 1900? The names of all cemeteries in existence in Lowell in 1870? A list of all civic and social organizations in 1925 Worcester?
This is not an all-inclusive list of extant city directories in the state but is more of a list of directories accessible to us and you as researchers.
Additional directories for specific years for some cities and towns not listed, may be available elsewhere.