Wisconsin Directories

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U.S. Directories

Wisconsin

Directories

Online Directories

• 1891-1892 Wisconsin State Gazetteer And Business Directory, 1891-1892, Volume 7, Part 2 at MyHeritage — index & images ($)
• 1891-1892 Wisconsin State Gazetteer And Business Directory, 1891-1892, Volume 7, Part 3 at MyHeritage — index & images ($)

History

City and county directories are similar to present-day telephone books and are useful records for locating people. They were often published annually, listing heads of households, employed household members, and their occupations and addresses. Directories may focus on the businesses or occupations of an area, or include heads of households, landowners, and voters.

Directories are particularly helpful for research in cities. A directory may be the only source that lists a person if he was not registered to vote and did not own property. Most households were included because the directories were created for salesmen, merchants, and others interested in contacting residents of an area.

Directories have other clues that may require careful study to discover. For example, people in similar or related occupations were often relatives, in-laws, or friends. A year-by-year study of directories may reveal the movements of ancestors and relatives within the city and sometimes to or from other cities.

Examples of directories that may be found in an archive are: city directories, telephone directories, church directories, occupational directories, farmers directories, or rosters of society members.

Resources for Wisconsin Directories

Libraries and Archives

The Wisconsin Historical Society has the a collection of city, business, occupational, and other directories of names.

Directories Online

• Digitized Collections at University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries. Use search terms such as "Wisconsin city directories", or include specific city name.
• Gogebic Range City Directories
• La Crosse City Directories
• Oshkosh City Directories
• Milwaukee City Directories 1861-1892 at Fold3 ($).
• Wisconsin directories in U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 at Ancestry ($).

The FamilySearch Library

The FamilySearch Library has city directories for various years from throughout the state of Wisconsin including:

Milwaukee

1847–1860 FS Library films 6044124-33(*)
1861–1935 FS Library films 1377046-60(*)

Madison

1851–1859, 1866–1935 (some gaps) FS Library films 6044081-84(*)
1923, 1937, 1968 FS Library book 977.583/M1 E4w

To find directories, consult the Place Search of the FamilySearch Catalog under:

WISCONSIN, [COUNTY] — DIRECTORIES

WISCONSIN, [COUNTY], [TOWN] — DIRECTORIES

Websites

• Wisconsin Historical Society
• City Directories of the United States identifies printed, microfilmed, and online directories and their repositories.

This website requires a paid subscription for full access. Some subscription websites are available for free at your local FamilySearch Center or Affiliate Library.

Due to contractual agreements, some images and/or databases on FamilySearch.org may only be viewed at a FamilySearch Center or FamilySearch Affiliate Library.