City Directory / Telephone Book Search Request

For this research service, Library Staff will search for one name--individual or business--in up to five years of one city's directories or telephone books.

Turnaround 
Research is usually completed and sent within three to four weeks. In some circumstances it may take up to twelve weeks to complete work.

About This Research Service 
City directories
Were compiled for medium and large cities, and some rural areas, but not for every location in the state and not for every year. It may be helpful to check our city directory holdings.

You may request specific individual years or a range of years--up to a total of five years--but searching in multiple cities requires separate orders for each location. If the specified name or business does not appear in the year(s) requested, you will receive a copy of the page where the name would have appeared.

Note: City directories list families by the head of household. This means that minors are never listed and women's names usually only appear if they are living independently from parents or spouse (single, widowed, divorced).

Telephone books
MNHS holds an incomplete collection of Minnesota telephone books. They're organized by county and can be found listed under "telephone directories" in our Library and Archives Catalog. Click here to check our holdings.

Some City Directories are available online free of charge. You may want to check online for the directory you are looking for before you place this order. For St. Paul or Minneapolis-area city directories, check the resources below.

• Digital St. Paul Public Library City Directory Collection (1856-1922)
• Hennepin County Public Library City Directory Collection 1859-1983 (Includes the cities of Edina, Hopkins, Minneapolis, Lake Minnetonka, and St. Louis Park, and others)

 For More Information:

• Directories Research Guide