Who Lived at This Address? Old Records Guide (2026)

Short answer. Deeds name the owners and the dates they bought and sold. City directories name the people who actually lived there, renters and boarders included. The Library of Congress holds directories for more than 1,200 places, mostly from 1861 to 1960 LoC city directories guide (checked 12 Oct 2026). Its criss-cross collection, arranged by street and house number, is inventoried for 1930 to 2005 LoC reverse directories guide (checked 12 Oct 2026). The 1950 census has been free online since April 1, 2022 National Archives (checked 12 Oct 2026).

Much of this is still on paper or microfilm. Plan on one library visit or one interlibrary loan request, and one call to the county recorder.

At a glance: what each old record tells you about an address

Source	What it tells you about the address	Years	Free online?	Where
City directories Polk and others	Head of household, occupation, often spouse; a street section lists occupants house by house	LoC microfilm mostly 1861–1960	Some. Des Moines 1866–1922 on Internet Archive; FamilySearch (free account)	Public and state libraries, Library of Congress
Criss-cross (reverse) directories Cole, Haines, Hill’s	Resident and phone number by street and house number, plus a section by phone number	LoC inventory 1930–2005	Rarely	Local history rooms, LoC Science & Business Reading Room
Old phone books	Name and address of each listed subscriber	Most of the 20th century	About 3,500 LoC reels online (14 states, DC, Chicago)	Library of Congress, local libraries
Deeds and grantor-grantee indexes	Every owner, sale dates, and the book and page of each deed	Varies by county; Cook County online from 1985	Indexes often; older books on paper or images	County recorder or register of deeds
Sanborn fire insurance maps	Building outline, material, number of stories and use (dwelling, store)	1867 onward	Yes, public-domain sheets at the LoC	Library of Congress
1950 census	Everyone counted at the address in April 1950	1950	Yes, searchable by name and place	National Archives
Old newspapers	Sales, obituaries, weddings and notices naming the address	Chronicling America through 1963	Chronicling America; most later papers on microfilm	LoC, state and local libraries

How do I find out who lived at an address?

Start with the owners, then find the occupants. A deed tells you who owned the property and when it changed hands. It doesn't tell you who rented it. City directories and criss-cross directories fill that gap, year by year.

The fastest route to the deeds is today's property record. Look the address up on the county real estate or assessor site to get the last deed's book and page NovaHistory (19 Jul 2007). Then work backward through the deed books. In Cook County, Illinois, you look up the parcel number (PIN) by address, then search recorded deeds by PIN Cook County Clerk (checked 12 Oct 2026).

For occupants, use a directory's street section for each year. The Wyoming State Library notes that city directories "help to place people in a particular location at a specific time" Wyoming State Library (checked 12 Oct 2026). Read across a run of years and you get a list of residents with rough move-in and move-out dates.

The worked example below shows the full order. If you only need current owner and resident data, our address lookup covers that.

What is a city directory, and where can I search Polk directories free?

A city directory is a yearly list of a town's residents and businesses. Entries are arranged "alphabetically by last name and also by address and telephone number" LoC city directories guide (checked 12 Oct 2026). They often add "place of employment and name of spouse" LoC city directories guide (checked 12 Oct 2026). Publishers compiled them through door-to-door surveys LoC city directories guide (checked 12 Oct 2026).

R. L. Polk & Co. is the name most people know. The Wyoming State Library says "For over 150 years, the Polk Company has published annual city directories" Wyoming State Library (checked 12 Oct 2026). Its guide to Polk directories describes a reverse section: a "listing of occupants by street address" Wyoming State Library (checked 12 Oct 2026).

Where to search them

Library of Congress. Its microfilm set covers more than 1,200 cities, towns and counties, "primarily 1861 through 1960" LoC city directories guide (checked 12 Oct 2026). Expect gaps of up to five years LoC Labs (17 Apr 2024). Some volumes are digitized in the LoC's U.S. Local History Collection LoC city directories guide (checked 12 Oct 2026).
Your state or city library. Many have digitized their own runs. Des Moines Public Library put its 1866–1922 directories on the Internet Archive, Polk editions from the 1890s on Des Moines Public Library (checked 12 Oct 2026).
FamilySearch. The LoC guide lists the United States City and Business Directories, ca. 1749 - ca. 1990 collection. There is no fee, but you need a free account LoC online resources guide (checked 12 Oct 2026).
At the library, on a library card. Ancestry Library Edition (U.S. City Directories, 1822–1995) and MyHeritage Library Edition (1860–1960) are subscription databases. The LoC lists them for on-site use or through a local public or academic library LoC online resources guide (checked 12 Oct 2026).

How do I read old city directory abbreviations?

Use the directory's own key first. St. Olaf College's guide says "it is important to refer to the page showing abbreviations used in the book" St. Olaf College (19 Aug 2026). Each publisher used its own list, covering occupations, given names and directions Wyoming State Library (checked 12 Oct 2026). These common ones come from Toronto Public Library's guide to 19th-century directories Toronto Public Library (1 Mar 2015):

h: house, or householder (owner)
r / res: resides (not the owner)
bds: boards (a boarder at that address)
wid: widow
n s, s s, e s, w s: north, south, east or west side of a street
lab, clk: labourer, clerk

Meanings shift between publishers. St. Olaf's guide reads r as a relative living with the homeowner and b as an unrelated boarder St. Olaf College (19 Aug 2026). Two more tips from the same guide: look for people with the same surname at the same address, and skim the advertisements St. Olaf College (19 Aug 2026).

What is a criss-cross or reverse directory?

A criss-cross directory lists households by address and by phone number, not by name. The Library of Congress says they are "often called street address or criss-cross directories" and are "arranged both by address and telephone number" LoC reverse directories guide (checked 12 Oct 2026). "There is no listing by name" LoC reverse directories guide (checked 12 Oct 2026).

By address: streets run alphabetically, then house numbers in order LoC reverse directories guide (checked 12 Oct 2026). Philadelphia's Cole's directory adds the resident's phone number and "length of time at that address" Free Library of Philadelphia (Nov 2011).
By phone number: a separate section lists numbers in order with the owner's name and address. Yolo County Archives describes its Haines volumes this way Yolo County Archives (checked 12 Oct 2026).

Where they survive

Mostly in libraries and archives, on paper or microfilm. Examples we confirmed:

Library of Congress: criss-cross collection inventoried for 1930–2005, served in the Science & Business Reading Room LoC reverse directories guide (checked 12 Oct 2026).
Free Library of Philadelphia: Cole's Cross Reference Directory, 1973–2007, on microfilm Free Library of Philadelphia (Nov 2011).
Fairfax County Public Library, Virginia: Hill's criss-cross directories, such as Arlington County 1955–1976. It notes that Arlington's Center for Local History holds Haines directories from the early 1970s Fairfax County Public Library (checked 12 Oct 2026).
Yolo County Archives, California: 28 Haines volumes for West Sacramento, 1982–2011 Yolo County Archives (checked 12 Oct 2026).

To find your area's run, search your library catalog for "criss-cross" or "reverse directory" plus the city name, or ask the reference desk.

Where can I find old phone books online?

The Library of Congress has the largest free set. About 3,500 of its 8,327 digitized microfilm reels are online. They cover 14 states, the District of Columbia and Chicago, spanning "most of the 20th century" LoC telephone directories (checked 12 Oct 2026). The states are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland and Pennsylvania LoC telephone directories (checked 12 Oct 2026).

For other places, try your local library. Fairfax County Public Library, for example, keeps Northern Virginia white pages from 1962 onward Fairfax County Public Library (checked 12 Oct 2026). Des Moines Public Library holds local phone books from 1957 to the present Des Moines Public Library (checked 12 Oct 2026). A phone book only lists people who had a listed number, so check the city directory too.

How do I search deeds at the recorder or register of deeds?

Use the grantor-grantee index. The grantor is the seller, and the grantee is the buyer Franklin County, NC (checked 12 Oct 2026). On a mortgage it flips: the owner is the grantor and the lender the grantee Cook County Clerk (checked 12 Oct 2026). Each index entry points to a deed by book and page number.

Get the latest deed. Look the address up on the county assessor or real estate site for the parcel number and the last deed's book and page NovaHistory (19 Jul 2007).
Read the deed. It usually names the earlier deed's book and page NovaHistory (19 Jul 2007).
Repeat backward. NovaHistory's guide puts it simply: enter the new book and page "to find an even earlier deed, and so on" NovaHistory (19 Jul 2007). This sequence is the chain of title.
Bridge the gaps by name. If a deed lacks a reference, search the seller's name in the grantee index NovaHistory (19 Jul 2007). Land passed by inheritance appears in will books, not deed books NovaHistory (19 Jul 2007).

What's online and what's on paper

It depends entirely on the county. Three examples we checked:

Cook County, Illinois. "Online records only go back to 1985." For older documents, visit a Clerk's Office location Cook County Clerk (checked 12 Oct 2026).
Franklin County, North Carolina. The consolidated index runs from 1950 to today. A separate "Old Index Books" search covers 1896 through 1949, by grantor or grantee Franklin County, NC (checked 12 Oct 2026).
Mobile County, Alabama. A name index covers 1813 through 1983, but without document images. The official records are in the Probate Court's Records Room Mobile County Probate Court (checked 12 Oct 2026).

To find your county's office and portal, start from our public records portals by state.

What do Sanborn maps show about a house?

Sanborn fire insurance maps show the building, not the people. They "show the size, shape, and construction of dwellings, commercial buildings, and factories" LoC Maps blog (6 May 2021). They also show street names, property boundaries and building use LoC Maps blog (6 May 2021). The Library of Congress collection dates "from 1867 to the present", with about 50,000 editions LoC Maps blog (6 May 2021). The last of its public-domain sheets went online in August 2020 LoC Maps blog (6 May 2021).

How to read the key. Colour shows building material: "brick and tile are represented with a reddish/pink color" LoC Sanborn collection (checked 12 Oct 2026). Numerals give the number of stories. Letters give the use, such as "D" for a dwelling and "S" for a store LoC Sanborn collection (checked 12 Oct 2026). Each volume's street index lists the address ranges on each sheet LoC Sanborn collection (checked 12 Oct 2026).

Compare two editions to date a change, such as an addition, a new garage or a house replaced by a store. If you suspect the house number changed, a map from the same year as a directory helps you match the old number to the building. The LoC's fire insurance maps research guide explains the collection in more depth.

Can the 1950 census tell me who lived at an address?

Yes, for April 1950. The National Archives released the 1950 records on April 1, 2022, free of charge National Archives (checked 12 Oct 2026). You can search the 1950 census website by name and location National Archives (checked 12 Oct 2026). Its name index was built with OCR (machine reading of handwriting) and "is not 100-percent accurate" National Archives (checked 12 Oct 2026).

If a name search fails, browse by place. NARA provides enumeration district maps and descriptions National Archives (checked 12 Oct 2026). An enumeration district was the area one census taker covered. Find the district that contains your street, then read its pages.

Census records stay closed for 72 years. That rule comes from Public Law 95-416 of October 5, 1978 Census Bureau (checked 12 Oct 2026). After 72 years, NARA releases them to the public Census Bureau (checked 12 Oct 2026).

How do I search old newspapers, microfilm and yearbooks?

Search Chronicling America first. It is a Library of Congress and National Endowment for the Humanities project. It holds digitized pages "from nearly every state and territory" published through 1963 LoC Chronicling America (checked 12 Oct 2026). Search the street address in quotes, then the residents' names. Look for property sales, obituaries, weddings and legal notices.

For later or missing papers, find the microfilm. The LoC's U.S. Newspaper Directory indexes papers published since 1690. It helps you find "what titles exist for a specific place and time, and how to access them" LoC Newspaper Directory (checked 12 Oct 2026). Then ask the holding library or your own library for the reels.

Old yearbooks. A yearbook confirms that a student was in a town in a given year. It rarely gives a home address. Ask the school or district first, then the public library's local history room or the local historical society.

How do I ask a librarian or use interlibrary loan?

Ask a reference librarian before you travel. Email or call with one precise question. A good one names the address, the years you need, and what you've already checked. The LoC directory guide offers its Ask a Librarian service, a phone line, (202) 707-3399, and its Main Reading Room desk LoC directories guide (updated 30 Jul 2026).

Interlibrary loan (ILL) means your library borrows an item from another library for you. You can't request it yourself from the lending library. At the Library of Congress, only "academic, public, or special" libraries can borrow LoC Interlibrary Loan (checked 12 Oct 2026). The Minnesota Historical Society, for example, lends most of its microfilmed city directories and all Minnesota newspapers on microfilm Minnesota Historical Society (checked 12 Oct 2026). It charges $3 per reel plus $2.50 shipping per order, and the loan lasts three weeks Minnesota Historical Society (checked 12 Oct 2026). Individuals ask their public library, which also needs a microfilm reader Minnesota Historical Society (checked 12 Oct 2026). Fees at your own library may differ Minnesota Historical Society (checked 12 Oct 2026).

What to bring to a library or courthouse

Photo ID. A Library of Congress Reader Identification Card is free with a driver's license, state ID or passport. You must be 16 or older LoC: using the Library (checked 12 Oct 2026).
Your list. The address, any old house numbers, owner names, and deed book and page numbers. Index searches give you book and page, which is what records staff need Mobile County Probate Court (checked 12 Oct 2026).
Time and requests in advance. At the LoC, print directories are requested on paper slips, up to 40 a day. Staff suggest requesting 24 hours ahead LoC directories guide (updated 30 Jul 2026).
A phone or camera, and money for copies. Ask about photo and copy rules when you arrive. Check opening hours first; Mobile County's Records Room, for example, is open 8:00 am to 5:00 pm on weekdays Mobile County Probate Court (checked 12 Oct 2026).

Worked example: in what order should I check the sources?

Illustrative example, fictional address

Question: who lived at 123 Example Street, Anytown between 1920 and 1980? The address, names and results here are invented to show the order of work.

County assessor site. Look up 123 Example Street. Note the parcel number and the last deed's book and page.
Deed books, backward. Follow the chain of title through the grantor-grantee index. Result: three owners, with sale dates of 1919, 1947 and 1972.
Sanborn maps. Open the 1920s and 1950s editions. Confirm the lot holds a two-story dwelling ("D") and check whether the house number changed.
City directories, street section. Read 123 Example Street in every available year from 1920 to 1960. Note each name with "h", "r" or "bds". Result: the owners, plus two renting families and a boarder.
1950 census. Find the enumeration district and read the household. It confirms the 1950 occupants and adds children's names and ages.
Criss-cross directories, 1960s onward. Look up the address each year until it leaves the book. Note phone numbers and "years at address" where given.
Newspapers. Search each name and the street address. Obituaries and sale notices fill in dates and relatives.
Librarian or ILL. Request the years you could not find online.

Write down every source as you go: the directory year, page and line, or the deed book and page. Our vital records search helps with the death and birth records that the names lead to.

What are the legal and safety limits?

This guide covers US public and library records, for history, genealogy, journalism and research. Deeds, old directories, Sanborn maps and the 1950 census are open to the public. This is not legal advice.

Not for screening. Don't use what you find to decide on a tenant, a job, credit or insurance. Those decisions fall under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). It covers consumer reporting agencies, including tenant screening services. Users for credit, insurance or employment must notify people of adverse action FTC (updated 23 Mar 2026). Use a screening company that follows the FCRA.

Not for locating someone who is hiding from abuse. Please don't use these methods to find a person who has cut contact with you.

If you are the one at risk, ask about an address confidentiality program. These give survivors a substitute address for public records. In January 2026, NASS listed Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming as the only states without one NASS (Jan 2026). Washington's, created by law in 1991, covers survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking or trafficking Washington Secretary of State (checked 12 Oct 2026). Applicants start with a trained advocate. In immediate danger, call 9-1-1 Washington Secretary of State (checked 12 Oct 2026).

Sources

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a city directory and a phone book?

A phone book lists only people with a listed telephone number. A city directory was compiled door to door, so it was not limited to phone subscribers. It often adds occupations, employers and spouses. Criss-cross directories sit in between: they are built from phone listings but sorted by address and number.

How current is the information in a city directory?

Usually about a year behind. The Free Library of Philadelphia notes that each of its city directories reflects the previous year’s information. Directories were also published at irregular intervals, so check the years either side before you decide when someone moved in or out.

Why can’t I find a city directory for recent years?

Many cities stopped having them. The Library of Congress warns that there are no current city directories for many major U.S. cities. For the 1960s onward, switch to criss-cross directories and phone books, then to current property and people-search records.

Will the Library of Congress look up a name or address for me?

No. Its city directory guide says staff will not search directories for names. They will help you find and request the right volumes. The guide also links to fee-charging freelance researchers in the Washington, D.C. area.

Can I borrow city directories from the Library of Congress through interlibrary loan?

No. The Library of Congress says none of its city directories are available on interlibrary loan. Try a state library or historical society instead; some, such as the Minnesota Historical Society, lend directory microfilm to other libraries.

Do Sanborn maps show who lived in a house?

No. They show the building: its outline, material, number of stories and use, such as a dwelling or a store. Pair a Sanborn map with a city directory from the same year to put names to the building.

When will the 1960 census be released?

Census records are released 72 years after the count, so the 1960 records fall due in 2032. The National Archives handles the release. Until then, use city and criss-cross directories for the 1960s.

How do I find someone who doesn’t want to be found?

We don’t give tips for that. An adult who chose to cut contact has that right. Legitimate needs go through a process server, the court or a licensed investigator. Examples are serving court papers, an estate or heir notice, or a debt you are owed. If you are the one hiding from abuse, ask your state about its address confidentiality program.

Next step: run the address through our free address lookup for today's owner, parcel and resident records. Then use this guide to walk those names back in time.