City Directories as a Historical Research Tool

by Amber Covington  Rowan Public Library

Remember city directories that listed the names and occupations of everyone that lived in a house? A person could simply look up a street address by a last name and find the person they were looking for. In today’s time we have phone books and they only list home phone numbers with the person's name that is on the company’s account and their address. Therefore we do not know if we have the right person's home phone number. These also leave out many people that do not own home phones. Searching for contact information can be very challenging. As our phone needs have changed over the years, our historical and research needs have not. When looking for an individual that may have lived here in Salisbury during the 1940s, check out the city directories available at the Rowan Public Library Edith M. Clark History Room to find their home address and occupation of the time. This is an easy way to help you find out the names of businesses in town, their neighbors, and if you have the correct person. Small details such as occupation can be crucial information when searching for individuals that lived years ago.

If you ever find yourself searching for a relative or business among Main Street in Salisbury during your historical research consider using a city directory. Thumbing through a directory reveals that past lives of many and how they contributed to the makeup of Salisbury. Businesses placed advertisements throughout the directory and many times this provides a glimpse of the services they provided during a certain time frame. If you ever wonder who lived at your house in previous years search through a city directory. The lives of the people and neighbors that lived in the same house or neighborhood come alive in simple print on the pages of city directories.

Ready to begin your adventure into the past lives of Rowan County residents? Consider the city directories awaiting you in the history room.