Montana Directories: Difference between revisions

{{Montana-sidebar}}<br>''[[United States|United States]][[Image:Gotoarrow.png]][[United States Directories|U.S. Directories]][[Image:Gotoarrow.png]][[Montana Genealogy|Montana]][[Image:Gotoarrow.png]][[Montana_Directories|Directories]]''  

A directory is defined as a “book containing names, addresses, and occupations of inhabitants.” It may also be “any list or compilation, usually in book or pamphlet form, of persons, professional organizations, firms or corporations.”<ref>Henry Campbell Black, ''Black’s Law Dictionary: Definitions of the Terms and Phrases of American and English Jurisprudence, Ancient and Modern'', 5th ed. (St. Paul, Minnesota: West Publishing Co., 1979), 415, “directory.”</ref> Several types of directories have been published in the United States over the last two hundred years including: city directories, telephone directories, county and regional business directories, professional, organizational, and religious directories, post office directories, and street directories. Directories have tremendous value to genealogists as both an original record and as a reference aid.  

The sections below provide information about Montana directories. For further information about directories in general, see [[United States Directories]].  

*'''1867. '''Langley, Henry G. comp. ''The Pacific Coast Business Directory for 1867: Containing the name and post office address of each merchant, manufacturer and professional residing in the states of California, Oregon, and Nevada: the terriories of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Alaska: and the colony of British Columbia. Also, a gazetteer of the counties, cities, and towns, and an exhibit of the resources of the Pacific Coast. ''San Francisco: Henry G. Langley, 1867. Digital version at [http://archive.org/details/cihm_17457 Internet Archive].

*'''1914. '''R.L. Polk and Company. ''Northwestern Gazetteer: Minnesota, North and South Dakota and Montana--Gazetteer and Business Directory''. St. Paul: R.L. Polk, 1914. {{FHL|142321|title-id|disp=FHL films 1321220-221}}.

Typically, city directories are published on a local level, hence the name "city" directory.&nbsp;There are no statewide “city” directories for Montana. To find local Montana city directories, check the appropriate Montana city Wiki page. Researchers may also find the following resources helpful:  

*[http://www.ancestry.com Ancestry.com] ($) has Montana directories in their [http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1540 U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989] collection. The following cities are currently included: Anaconda, Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Dillion, Fort Benton, Great Falls, Havre, Helena, Kalispell, Lewistown, Livingston, Miles City, Missoula, and Whitefish.  

*[http://www.loc.gov/rr/microform/uscity/mt.html U.S. City Directories on Microfilm in the Microform Reading Room - Montana]&nbsp;(Library of Congress)

The Family History Library has an excellent collection&nbsp;of Montana city directories on microfilm up through 1935.&nbsp;The cities of Anaconda, Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Great Falls, Helena, Kalispell, and Missoula are well represented. The&nbsp;Library&nbsp;also has&nbsp;printed directories for some select Montana&nbsp;cities that extend into the 1990s.  

:Montana, [County], [City] - Directories

*'''1942. '''''Directory of Community Service Organizations in Montana''. Helena, Montana: Montana Preparedness and Advisory Commission, 1942. {{FHL|427868|title-id|disp=FHL book 978.6 C44d}}.

"Most libraries, historical societies, and archives at the state level have fairly extensive collections of in-state directories and may also have directories from major out-of-state&nbsp;cities."<ref>Remington, Gordon L., "Directories," in Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, editors, ''The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy'', 3rd ed. (Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2006), chap. 8, p. 327.</ref> The [http://www.his.state.mt.us/ Montana Historical Society], [http://www.lib.montana.edu/ Montana State University], and the [http://www.umt.edu/InformationAbout/Libraries University of Montana]&nbsp;have some of the&nbsp;finest collections&nbsp;of Montana directories in the state.  

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