Boston Directory

The Boston Directory of Boston, Massachusetts, was first published in 1789. It contained "a list of the merchants, mechanics, traders, and others, of the town of Boston; in order to enable strangers to find the residence of any person." Also included were listings for public officials, doctors, bank directors, and firemen.^[1] The directory was issued annually after 1825; previously it had appeared irregularly.

The number of listings in each directory reflected fluctuations in the population size of Boston. In 1789, the directory included some 1,474 listings; by 1875, there were 126,769.^[2]

Publishers included John Norman (1789); John West (1796-1803); Edward Cotton (1805-1818); Charles Stimpson (1820-1846); George Adams (1846-1857);^[3] Adams, Sampson & Co. (1858-1865); Sampson, Davenport & Co. (1865-1884); Sampson, Murdock & Co. (1885-1903); Sampson & Murdock Co. (1904-ca.1930); R.L. Polk & Co. (1944-ca.1980).^[4][5]

Boston Directories

18th century

• Boston Directory. 1789 – via Internet Archive. 
• Boston Directory. 1796 – via Google Books. . (reprint on p. 215-302)
• Boston Directory. 1798.

19th century

1800-1849

• Boston Directory. 1800.
• Boston Directory. 1803.
• Boston Directory. Boston, Mass.: Edward Cotton. 1805 – via Internet Archive. 
• Boston Directory. 1806.
• Boston Directory. 1807 – via Hathi Trust. 
• Boston Directory. 1809.
• Boston Directory. 1810.
• Boston Directory. 1813.
• Boston Directory. 1816.
• Boston Directory. 1818.
• Boston Directory. Boston, Mass.: Frost and Stimpson. 1820 – via Hathi Trust. 
• Boston Directory. 1821.
• Boston Directory. 1822.
• Boston Directory. 1823 – via Hathi Trust. 
• Boston Directory. Boston, Mass.: Frost and Stimpson. 1825 – via Internet Archive. 
• Boston Directory. 1826.
• Boston Directory. 1827.
• Boston Directory. 1828.
• Boston Directory. 1829.
• Boston Directory. 1830.
• Stimpson's Boston Directory. Boston, Massachusetts: Stimpson & Clapp. 1831 – via Internet Archive. 
• Stimpson's Boston Directory. Boston, Massachusetts: Stimpson and Clapp. 1832 – via Hathi Trust. 
• Stimpson's Boston Directory. 1833.
• Boston Directory. 1834 – via Internet Archive. 
• Boston Directory. 1835 – via Internet Archive. 
• Boston Directory. 1836 – via Internet Archive. 
• Stimpson's Boston Directory. 1837.
• Stimpson's Boston Directory. 1838.
• Stimpson's Boston Directory. 1839.
• Stimpson's Boston Directory. 1840.
• Stimpson's Boston Directory. 1841.
• Stimpson's Boston Directory. 1842.
• Stimpson's Boston Directory. 1843.
• Stimpson's Boston Directory. 1844.
• Stimpson's Boston Directory. 1845.
• Stimpson's Boston Directory. 1846.
• Adams's New Directory of the City of Boston. 1846-1847.
• Adams's Boston Directory. 1847-1848.
• Boston Directory. 1848 – via Internet Archive. 
• Boston Directory. 1849 – via Internet Archive. 

1850-1899

• Boston Directory. 1850 – via Google Books. 
• Boston Directory. Boston: George Adams. 1851 – via Hathi Trust.  + via Google Books
• The Boston directory for the year 1852. Boston: George Adams. 1852 – via Google Books. 
• Boston Directory. 1853.
• Boston Directory. 1854.
• Boston Directory. 1855.
• The Boston directory for the year 1856. Boston: George Adams. 1856 – via Google Books. 
• The Boston Directory for the year 1857. Boston: George Adams. 1857 – via Google Books. 
• The Boston Directory for the year 1858. Boston: George Adams. 1858 – via Google Books. 
• Boston Directory. 1859.
• Boston Directory. 1860.
• The Boston Directory ... 1861. Boston: Adams, Sampson, & Co. 1861 – via Google Books. 
• Boston Directory, 1862, OCLC 1696416 
• The Boston Directory ... 1864. Boston: Adams, Sampson, & Co. 1864 – via Google Books. 
• Boston Directory. 1865.
• Boston Directory. 1866.
• Boston Directory. 1867.
• Boston Directory. 1868 – via Google Books. 
• Boston Directory. 1869.
• Boston Directory. 1870.
• Boston Commercial Directory for 1871. Boston: Wentworrth & Co. 1870 – via Google Books. 
• Boston Directory. Sampson, Davenport & Co. 1872 – via Hathi Trust. 
  • Boston Almanac and Business Directory for the year 1872. Boston, Mass.: Sampson, Davenport & Co. 1872. 
• Boston Directory. 1873 – via Google Books. 
  • Boston Directory. 1873 Supplement, November.
  • Boston Directory. 1873 Supplement, December.
• Boston Directory. 1874.
• Boston Directory. 1875.
• Boston Directory. 1876.
• Boston Almanac and Business Directory: 1879. Boston, Mass.: Sampson, Davenport & Co. 1879. 
• Boston Almanac and Business Directory ... 1885. Boston, Mass.: Sampson, Davenport & Co. 1885 – via Google Books. 
• Boston Almanac and Business Directory ... 1889. Boston, Mass.: Sampson, Murdock & Co. 1889 – via Google Books. 
• Boston Almanac and Business Directory ... 1891. Boston, Mass.: Sampson, Murdock & Co. 1891 – via Google Books. 
• Boston Almanac and Business Directory ... 1893. Boston, Mass.: Sampson, Murdock & Co. 1893. 
• Boston Almanac and Business Directory ... 1894. Boston, Mass.: Sampson, Murdock & Co. 1894 – via Google Books. 

20th century

1900-1949

• Boston Directory. Boston, Mass.: Sampson & Murdock Co. 1916 – via Internet Archive. 
• Boston Register and Business Directory: 1922. Boston, Mass.: Sampson & Murdock Co. 1922 – via Internet Archive. 

1950 -

• Boston City Directory, 1955. Boston, Mass.: R.L. Polk & Co. 1955 – via Internet Archive. 
• Boston City Directory. 1956 – via Internet Archive. 
• Boston City Directory, 1959. Boston, Mass.: R.L. Polk & Co. 1959 – via Internet Archive. 
• Boston City Directory. 1961 – via Internet Archive. 
• Boston City Directory. 1962 – via Internet Archive. 
• Boston City Directory. 1965 – via Internet Archive. 
• Boston City Directory. 1966 – via Internet Archive. 
• Boston City Directory. 1969 – via Internet Archive. 
• Boston City Directory, 1970. Boston, Mass.: R.L. Polk & Co. 1970 – via Internet Archive. 

21st century

2010

• Boston Directory, 2014. Wellesley, Mass.: gTLDs LLC. 2014. 

See also

• Boston Almanac
• Massachusetts Register

References

Further reading

• New England historical and genealogical register. Oct. 1862; p. 387+
• Report of the record commissioners of the city of Boston, Volume 10. Rockwell and Churchill, 1886; p. 163+

• A.V. Williams (1913), "Boston, Massachusetts", The Development and Growth of City Directories, Cincinnati, Ohio: Williams Directory Co. 

External links

• http://www.damrellsfire.com/cgi-bin/directory_search.pl
• Boston Athenæum: The Boston Directory 1789-1900, Digital Collection.